The Infuence of Trust on the Attitude to Tax Discipline in the Context of Economic Development in the Countries of the Union State

Abstract

The article is devoted to the category of trust and its role in the development of the economy and finance for the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus. The purpose of the study is to correlate the dynamics of horizontal and vertical trust, as well as attitudes towards tax discipline, taking into account the age characteristics of respondents in the countries of the Union State. The study is based on longitudinal data from the World Values Survey project since the 1990s. It was shown that with the common historical, economic and cultural origins of the economic and financial systems of the countries of the Union State, the level of horizontal trust and the rate of change in vertical trust in the countries differ. The results of surveys of respondents in the analyzed countries indicated an increase in leniency towards tax cheating over the past thirty years, though not supported by a corresponding increase in tax arrears. For the entire observation period, an increase in intolerance to tax cheating with an increase in the age of respondents is true. When interpreting the results of assessing the opinions of students as future taxpayers, it is important to take into account that they reflect a rather radical position and tax discipline potentially increases with age.