A Follow Up to Our Qualitative Inquiry on the Perspective of Tax Practitioners on Corporate Social Responsibility and Taxation

Abstract

Researchers continue to interpret the conclusions of prior research on the important relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) and taxation differently. The current literature on the relationship between CSR and taxation is limited. In addition, the results and conclusions of prior research remain inconclusive and conflicting. The purpose of this paper is to explore the perspective of tax practitioners on the link between taxation and CSR. We conducted a qualitative study by interviewing tax practitioners about their perspectives, experiences, and understanding on the relationship between taxation and CSR. From these interviews, we found that tax practitioners believed that: (1) compliance and CSR were equivalent; (2) their role was to merely comply with the law; and (3) altruism motivated clients to distribute wealth more than taxation does. These findings are beneficial to the fields of CSR and taxation. We hope that this study elevates and adds to the discussion on CSR and taxation, and provides further insight on the relationship between CSR and taxation.