Individual taxpayers' perceptions of formal and informal sanctions for tax cheating influence their patterns of noncompliance with income tax laws. Factors which shape these perceptions include personal experiences with tax collection agencies, exposure to mass media and interpersonal communications about tax compliance and enforcement, and differences in economic and work situations of individual payers that affect the objective probability of their detection. Using survey data from 2000 Minnesota residents, Drs. Smith and Kinsey examine the effect of these factors on sanction perceptions and on past and future compliance by testing causal models. Their study explains patterns of noncompliance and offers ways of modelling the tax compliance process. More broadly, it contributes to understanding the process of deterrence by examining perceptions and also by expanding the application of deterrence theory to a form of deviance especially challenging in that it involves knowledge and interpretation of complex and ever changing laws.
