Tax Cheating: Illegal―But Is It Immoral?

by Donald Morris

An examination of the ethical issues surrounding tax cheating and implications for public policy.

290 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

Professor Emeritus of Accountancy, University of Illinois Springfield. Morris has published articles on business ethics, taxation, finance, and management. He spent 25 years as a teacher—eight teaching philosophy (PhD in Philosophy from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale) including ethics classes at the Marion Federal Prison—and the rest teaching undergraduate courses in federal taxation (MS in Taxation DePaul University), financial accounting, and business ethics, as well as graduate courses in corporate taxation and fraud examination. Between teaching assignments, he spent 18 years as a practicing CPA in the Chicago area. His most recent book, Taxation in Utopia: Required Sacrifice and the General Welfare (SUNY Press, Sept. 2020) is an ethical investigation of the actual or constructive tax systems operating to support the most widely-read utopias including those of Plato, Campanella, Bacon, More, Harrington, Godwin, Owen, Saint-Simone, Tolstoy, Bellamy, Morris, Wells, Gilman, Huxley, Orwell, Rand, Nozick, and Le Guin. His other books include Tax Cheating: Illegal--But Is It Immoral? (SUNY Press 2012), an ethical/public policy investigation of the current U.S. tax code and winner of a national book award in political science; Opportunity: Optimizing Life's Chances (Prometheus Books 2006); and Dewey and the Behavioristic Context of Ethics. From 2005 to 2017 he coauthored CCH’s Accounting Desk Book (annual editions).

Reviews

[Mayra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tax Cheating: Illegal–But Is It Immoral? is one of the most informative and interesting nonfiction books I’ve read in a long time.

From tax fairness, to cheating, to fraud, to evasion, to the complexity of moral and legal dilemmas and much, much more, author Donald Morris, in his clear, well-organized and straightforward style, offers an in-depth, fascinating glimpse into the intricate, multi-faceted world of taxes.

Why does the process of filling out a tax return and writing a check to the treasury strike such a powerful moral chord in so many people? Why is there so much confusion about taxes and the origins of moral duties? Are there instances when evading taxes is the moral thing to do? What is the difference between tax evasion and tax cheating and when is cheating unintentional? These are important questions requiring complex answers; Morris, however, does a good job in providing answers for the general layman reader.

Tax Cheating: Illegal–But Is It Immoral? published by the State University of New York Press, is clearly well researched and contains an impressive, extensive list of bibliographical data. If you wish to become more knowledgeable about the IRS, income tax, and the blurry boundaries of what constitutes tax cheating, I strongly recommend you pick this one up. This is an essential title that should be in any home’s reference shelf.

I should state that Donald Morris is a Professor of Accounting at the University of Illinois and the author of Opportunity: Optimizing Life’s Chances (Prometheus Books, 2006–Opportunitybook.com), co-author of Accounting Desk Book (Commerce Clearing House, 2005-2011), and has published papers on tax, business ethics, investing, and business strategy. He has a PhD in Philosophy from Southern Illinois University and a Master’s in Taxation from DePaul University in Chicago.

[Bryan Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

i'm speechless

[Stefan Vucak · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Tax Cheating’ is not a book one can take to bed and relax with. It questions and challenges the basis of the US Tax Code, people’s reason to avoid, cheat and defraud on their tax statements. The book explores the unwieldy complexity of the tax law, designed to allow widespread noncompliance, impact on social morality, its inherent lack of fairness, and a court system that favors large corporations and wealthy individuals, while penalizing a small time offender. It confirms that money and power are above the law. The book takes some digesting, and not everyone will find the meal satisfying.

Donald Morris presents a thoroughly researched dissertation, demonstrating a complete mastery of the subject. In many respects, it reaffirms public preconceptions about the US tax system, and amusingly illustrates challenges to its legality. If I had one complaint, I found Morris often overly verbose and convoluted in his statements, over-explaining points that instead of clarifying an argument, unnecessarily cloud the issue. This makes understanding the work in parts difficult and tends to deter the reader. However, exploring the impact the tax system has on the American social fabric, unwillingness by Congress to make meaningful reforms, people’s disdain of its innate unfairness, Morris presents an unequaled perspective that left me nodding with agreement.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to send a copy of this book to the President and every congress person. They need to know we are on to them...

Then I want to contact Warren Buffet to fund a project for me to re-write the Internal Revenue Service Code. It will benefit the entire country, not just the wealthy.

For an academic book, this is surprisingly easy to read. Yet, it really makes you contemplate how laws and morals are connected, and not connected. You will uncover some appalling facts in reading this book, and definitely want to start a civil disobedience movement with the goal of re-inventing our tax system.