Tax Morale: A Global Scoping Review from the Cultural Approach to Economics

Abstract

There is significant academic debate on how culture influences tax morale. The existing works in the field use several approaches, methods, and geographical outreaches. This article aims to present an up-to-date review of international literature on tax morale linked to cultural factors during the last twenty-five years (from 1998 to 2022). From the cultural approach to economics, this paper analyzes relevant scientific peer-reviewed articles following the extension for scoping reviews of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-ScR) and the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) manual for scoping reviews. The selection process of sources of evidence yielded a total of sixty-six relevant empirical works. This review contributes to the literature on tax morale by revealing that there are scarce qualitative studies in the field; that it is necessary to develop more research focused on specific countries and regions within countries; and that more works should address how some particular cultural facets —like religion, ethnic identity, patriotism, or trust— individually affect tax morale. JEL classification: H2, H26, H3, Z1