ATTITUDE TOWARD TAX EVASION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF RUSSIA AND UKRAINE

Robert W. McGee
Fayetteville State University

Yanira Petrides
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study was to determine whether Russian and Ukrainian views on the acceptability of tax evasion were similar or significantly different. The most recent World Values Survey data were analyzed, and comparisons were made. The Russian and Ukrainian sample sizes were 3513 and 2728, respectively, and interviews were conducted throughout most or all regions of
both countries, making it possible to arrive at some general conclusions. Overall, Russians were significantly less opposed to tax evasion than the Ukrainians. Russian men and women had basically the same opinion on the acceptability of tax evasion, whereas Ukrainian women were significantly
more opposed to tax evasion than were Ukrainian men. Opposition to tax evasion tended to be stronger among the older groups in both countries. Education level was not a significant demographic variable in either country. Opposition to tax evasion tended to decline as income rose.
Married people in both countries were significantly more opposed to tax evasion than single people. Religious affiliation was a significant variable, but their opposition to tax evasion differed between the two countries. Retired people in both countries showed stronger opposition to tax evasion than other employment groups. Ethnicity mattered in some cases but not in others. The language spoken at home sometimes was a significant variable. The acceptability of tax evasion increased significantly over time for the Russian sample. Changes in the acceptability of tax evasion for the
Ukrainian sample was not linear.
Keywords: Tax evasion, Participants’ age, gender, education, income, religion, marital status, employment, ethnic,
language of interview, language spoken at home, longitudinal, Russia, Ukraine