Abstract

BORREGO, Ana Clara; LOPES, Cidália  and  FERREIRA, Carlos. Certified Accountants' perception on tax system complexity: The Portuguese case. RGPLP [online]. 2016, vol.15, n.3, pp.66-83. ISSN 1645-4464.

This case-study intends to know Certified Accountants' (CA) perception on Portuguese tax system complexity, as well as its impact on their performance in tax compliance context. Data collected in 2013, by questionnaire, shows that most CA consider that the Portuguese tax system has a high level of complexity, especially legislative complexity, which translates into a negative impact on their professional performance. These findings support the international literature, particularly the results which allow us to conclude that: CA spend much time in fiscal updates; that, in the context of unintentional tax noncompliance, CA relate tax complexity, particularly, with their propensity to make mistakes and misinterpretations of tax laws; that, in the scope of intentional tax noncompliance, some CA admit to use tax complexity in the benefit of taxpayers represented by them, in order to obtain tax savings. Concerning the importance assigned by CA to their professional ethic and to their tax morality, as decisive factors in their position towards tax aggressiveness, conclusion that are not in line with the international tax literature, which considers the fear of punishment and losing customers/to be dismissed as the most decisive factors in this context, we can conclude that the traditional theory of tax evasion is not applicable to the Portuguese case, in professionals' tax aggressiveness.

Keywords : Tax Aggressiveness; Tax Complexity; Certified Accountants; Tax Noncompliance.

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