TAX PRACTITIONERS AND TAX AVOIDANCE: Gaming through authorities, cultures, and markets¹

Elea Wurth and Valerie Braithwaite consider the relationship between a taxpayer and a tax practitioner as a micro social process that is affected by social forces. The chapter offers an overview of several models of interaction between taxpayers and tax practitioners, along with an integrated framework for a broader study of the tax avoidance industry. Using a survey of over 1, 000 practitioners preparing and lodging returns for clients with the Australian Taxation Office, the authors identify a number of factors that influence the behaviour of a tax practitioner and that can be used to change this behaviour.