Journal articles
Oats LM, Rogers H (In Press). Emerging Perspectives on the Evolving Arm’s Length Principle and Formulary Apportionment. British Tax Review, 2019, 150-165.
Onu D, Oats L, Kirchler E (In Press). The dynamics of internalised and extrinsic motivation in the ethical decision making of small business owners. Applied Psychology
Ormeño-Pérez R, Oats L (2023). Implementing problematic tax regulation: Hysteresis and bureaucratic revolutionaries within tax administrations. The British Accounting Review, 55(3), 101147-101147.
Ormeño-Pérez R, Oats L (2023). The making of problematic tax regulation: a Bourdieusian perspective. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 102663-102663.
De Widt D, Oats L (2022). Imagining cooperative tax regulation: Common origins, divergent paths.
Critical Perspectives on AccountingAbstract:
Imagining cooperative tax regulation: Common origins, divergent paths
In many countries, relational field dynamics between tax administrators and corporate taxpayers have undergone significant changes in recent years. We conceive of cooperative compliance models implemented in the Netherlands and the UK between large corporate taxpayers and the respective tax administrations as dynamic strategic action fields, nested within the wider tax field and influenced by shifts in the external environment. Drawing on a series of interviews with skilled actors we identify similarities between the two countries in terms of the initial motivation for introducing cooperative compliance. We also identify differences in the subsequent trajectories. We find that within the respective strategic action fields, an imaginary of cooperation built around mutual trust contributes to the sustainability of the field. Vulnerability to developments in proximate fields on the other hand undermines field sustainability. Together these concepts help to explain the different trajectories and demonstrate the value in exploring shared understandings in strategic actions fields as imaginaries and paying more attention to the influence of proximate fields. The findings have implications for regulatory policy design in other settings.
Abstract.
Rogers H, Oats L (2022). Transfer pricing: changing views in changing times.
Accounting Forum,
46(1), 83-107.
Abstract:
Transfer pricing: changing views in changing times
Transfer pricing for tax purposes has long been contentious, but recent political and public concerns about tax avoidance have energised critiques of current rules and debates about proposals for change. Transfer pricing tax rules are underpinned by the arm’s length principle and we consider how the common understanding of this principle has developed and changed, as criticism of it has grown and there have been increasing calls for change. In this qualitative study we draw on Bourdieusian concepts: we focus on the views of senior transfer pricing professionals relating to the UK and the US and consider how their views and transfer pricing practices have changed over a period of field disruption. This is important because calls for transformation of the field need to be cognizant of the extent to which existing practices are firmly embedded and thereby resilient to change. We find that over the period of our longitudinal study the senior transfer pricing professionals show a degree of adaptability to the use of the arm’s length principle, which continues to dominate.
Abstract.
Wynter C, Oats L (2021). Knock, knock: the taxman's at your door! Practical sense, empathy games, and dilemmas in tax enforcement. Journal of Business Ethics
Oats L (2021). Section 7: Small profits rate chargeable on companies from 1 april 2023; schedule 1: Small profits rate for non-ring fence profits. British Tax Review, 2021(4), 379-380.
Brown R, Oats L (2020). Accounting profits, tax profits and unitary taxation (Revisited).
British Tax Review,
2020(1), 63-81.
Abstract:
Accounting profits, tax profits and unitary taxation (Revisited)
Unitary taxation requires the adoption of a set of rules that enables a combined group tax profit base to be determined. Setting aside questions as to which entities should be included and how the resultant profit should be allocated to relevant jurisdictions, this article focusses on the question of what is an appropriate base, and whether accounting principles, in particular external financial reporting principles, are fit for this purpose. The authors contribute to the ongoing debate on this issue, now even more salient in relation to the digital economy and the “unified approach” proposed by the OECD, by considering more recent changes in both financial reporting and taxation. The article concludes that there is considerable preparatory work to be done before an appropriate base for unitary taxation can be developed, if that is even possible.
Abstract.
Oats L, Tuck P (2019). Corporate tax avoidance: is tax transparency the solution?.
ACCOUNTING AND BUSINESS RESEARCH,
49(5), 565-583.
Author URL.
Rogers H, Oats LM (2019). Emerging Perspectives on the Evolving Arm's Length Principle and Formulary Apportionment. British Tax Review, 150-165.
Onu D, Oats L, Kirchler E, Hartmann AJ (2019). Gaming the System: an Investigation of Small Business Owners’ Attitudes to Tax Avoidance, Tax Planning, and Tax Evasion.
Games,
10(4), 46-46.
Abstract:
Gaming the System: an Investigation of Small Business Owners’ Attitudes to Tax Avoidance, Tax Planning, and Tax Evasion
To a large extent, the body of research that looks at individuals’ compliance with the law focuses on the dichotomy between compliance as rule-following and noncompliance as rule-breaking. However, a fascinating case of noncompliance is that where individuals selectively follow existing rules in order to circumvent the legal principle, this behaviour has been termed ‘creative compliance.’ in the current study, we investigated the psychological underpinnings of ‘creative compliance’ by assessing the attitudes of tax avoidance (significant minimisation of tax liability perceived to be legal) and tax evasion (illegal tax minimisation) of 330 owners of small businesses. We found that tax avoidance and tax evasion were perceived as qualitatively distinct by respondents and that they were predicted by different factors. While both tax avoidance and tax evasion were associated with weak personal norms to contribute to the tax system, tax avoidance was associated with a perception that the tax system is unfair, and that tax law has ‘loopholes’ that can be exploited, while tax evasion was predicted by the perception that evasion is a trivial crime. Overall, we provide insight into the under-investigated behaviour of ‘creative compliance’ and propose future research directions.
Abstract.
Larsen LB, Oats L (2019). Taxing Large Businesses: Cooperative Compliance in Action.
Intereconomics,
54(3), 165-170.
Abstract:
Taxing Large Businesses: Cooperative Compliance in Action
Cooperative compliance represents a shift in thinking for tax administrations, away from a deterrence approach where taxpayers are coerced to comply with tax rules and threatened by audits and penalties, toward a more responsive and collaborative approach.
Abstract.
Oats LM, Wynter C (2018). Don't worry, we're not after you! Anancy culture and tax enforcement in Jamaica. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 1-14.
Onu D, Oats L (2018). Tax Talk: an Exploration of Online Discussions Among Taxpayers.
Journal of Business Ethics,
149(4), 931-944.
Abstract:
Tax Talk: an Exploration of Online Discussions Among Taxpayers
We present an analysis of over 400 comments about complying with tax obligations extracted from online discussion forums for freelancers. While the topics investigated by much of the literature on taxpayer behaviour are theory driven, we aimed to explore the universe of online discussions about tax in order to extract those topics that are most relevant to taxpayers. The forum discussions were subjected to a qualitative thematic analysis, and we present a model of the ‘universe’ of tax as reflected in taxpayer discussions. The model comprises several main actors (tax laws, tax authority, tax practitioners, and the taxpayer’s social network) and describes the multiple ways in which they relate to taxpayers’ behaviour. We also conduct a more focused analysis to show that the majority of taxpayers seem unconcerned with many of the variables that have been the focus of tax behaviour research (e.g. audits, penalties, etc.), and that most people are motivated to be compliant and are more concerned with how to comply than whether to comply. Moreover, we discuss how these ‘real-world’ tax discussions question common assumptions in the study of tax behaviour and how they inform our understanding of business ethics more generally.
Abstract.
Oats LM, de Widt D (2017). Risk Assessment in a Cooperative Compliance Context: a Dutch UK Comparison. British Tax Review, 2017
Mulligan E, Oats L (2016). Tax and performance measurement: an inside story.
Advances in Taxation,
23, 59-85.
Abstract:
Tax and performance measurement: an inside story
Against the background of increasing regulation and spotlight on the tax position of MNEs, this study explores the relationship between tax and performance measurement. The paper is informed by a series of in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted in 2006 with 26 senior tax executives from 15 Silicon Valley-based companies. We also draw on documentary evidence including the relevant 10K reports and take an interpretive approach to the analysis. Many of the performance measures referred to in prior literature were employed in the companies. There was no evidence to suggest the profit centre performance measurement model is being adopted by MNEs for their tax departments. Two distinct aspects particularly exercised the interviewees, that is, the effective tax rate (ETR) and post-tax versus pre-tax performance measurement. Many interviewees did not perceive the ETR as being an appropriate measure of performance, yet they recognised its importance internally and externally. Many companies worked on the basis that there is an 'acceptable range' of ETRs which won't give rise to any unwanted questions. Most interviewees shared the view that a post-tax basis of measuring performance of business units might only serve to increase tax risks, preferring instead for the in-house tax executives to remain the exclusive tax knowledge experts. This study contributes to the diversification of tax research within accounting by demonstrating how qualitative work can provide unique insights. It enhances our understanding of how performance measurement of tax might influence the tax-planning behaviour of in-house tax executives and cautions against exclusive reliance on the ETR as a measure of the effect of tax planning.
Abstract.
Onu D, Oats L (2016). “Paying tax is part of life”: Social norms and social influence in tax communications. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 124, 29-42.
Oats LM, Onu D (2015). Social Norms and Tax Compliance: Theoretical overview and practical implications.
Journal of Tax Administration,
1(1), 113-137.
Abstract:
Social Norms and Tax Compliance: Theoretical overview and practical implications
Within fields as diverse as psychology, economics, sociology, and law, tax researchers have become increasingly interested in how societal norms influence individuals to comply (or not) with tax laws. However, it is not always apparent how these insights may contribute to tax administration and tax policy. First, this paper will present an overview of current research on social norms and tax compliance, bringing together results from a variety of research traditions. Rather than aiming to provide an exhaustive presentation of all research on social norms and compliance, we aim to highlight primary trends in past research, provide conceptual clarification, and highlight future research directions. Second, the paper will discuss avenues for employing knowledge about social norms in improving tax compliance. We review the social norms approach to changing individuals’ behaviour, including insights from relevant health and environmental campaigns, and discuss several options for designing future social norms campaigns for tax compliance, including potential caveats
Abstract.
Mulligan E, Oats L (2015). Tax professionals at work in Silicon Valley.
Accounting, Organizations and SocietyAbstract:
Tax professionals at work in Silicon Valley
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. This paper analyses a previously unexamined but nonetheless important facet of modern society - the nature and impact of the relationship between in-house tax professionals in large multinational organizations, and the external business, tax and regulatory environments within which they operate. Drawing on face-to-face interviews conducted with senior tax executives in US multinational enterprises (MNEs), we uncover the social reality of the world in which MNEs' tax executives operate, and find that these tax professionals are a powerful, elite group of knowledge experts who can significantly shape tax law and practices. We analyze the activities of these experts who, although working largely in the shadows of their organizations, are very much engaged in constructing and shaping the wider institutional environment. From a theoretical perspective that brings together institutional work and the endogeneity of law, we find these elite professionals engaging in subtle and diffuse exercise of power at a micro level within their organizations, a meso level between organizations within the field and at a macro level within the wider external environment. This has important implications for our broader understanding of the tax and regulatory environments which corporate actors inhabit.
Abstract.
Billings M, Oats L (2014). Innovation and pragmatism in tax design: Excess Profits Duty in the UK during the First World War.
Accounting History Review,
24, 83-101.
Abstract:
Innovation and pragmatism in tax design: Excess Profits Duty in the UK during the First World War
In this article, we examine the design and administration of Excess Profits Duty (EPD), introduced in the UK in 1915. This represented a significant innovation as the country's first comprehensive attempt to tax ‘excessive’ business profits. EPD was a complex tax which had two objectives: to generate additional revenues to help fund dramatically increased wartime government expenditure and to curb ‘profiteering’. Although criticised on numerous grounds, we argue that the tax was surprisingly successful. For all its defects, it generated very substantial revenues, and its design and administration proved flexible and robust in coping with the uncertainties of war.
Abstract.
Oats L, Sadler P, Wynter C (2014). Taxing Jamaica: the stamp act of 1760 & Tacky's rebellion.
eJournal of Tax Research,
12(1), 162-184.
Abstract:
Taxing Jamaica: the stamp act of 1760 & Tacky's rebellion
In 1760 the colonial assembly in Jamaica passed an act imposing stamp duties on the island colony as a response to increased costs in the wake of a slave rebellion. This article examines the conditions in Jamaica which led to the introduction of the 1760 stamp act, and discusses the provisions of the Jamaican act along with the reasons for its failure. This episode in eighteenth century taxation serves as a reminder of the importance of both the social context and political expediency in the introduction of new forms of taxation.
Abstract.
Boden R, Oats L (2013). Article type: Guest editorial from: Journal of applied accounting research, Volume 14, Issue 3. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 14(3).
Oats LM, Sadler P (2013). The Newspaper Stamp Duty: the Unseen Hand in First Amendment Theory. British Tax Review(3).
Oats LM, Rogers H (2013). The Use of Advance Pricing Agreements in Transfer Pricing Management. British Tax Review, 76-94.
Rogers H, Oats LM (2013). The development and growth of the use of the APA procedure: the UK and the US. British Tax Review
Gracia L, Oats L (2012). Boundary work and tax regulation: a Bourdieusian view.
Accounting, Organizations and Society,
37(5), 304-321.
Abstract:
Boundary work and tax regulation: a Bourdieusian view
Boundaries are ubiquitous in modern social life, and the work of creating and maintaining boundaries is particularly evident within regulatory fields. Through the analysis of a recent critical incident in the tax field (Arctic Systems) with which the accounting profession is intimately associated, this paper uses a Bourdieusian lens to unravel the relational complexities of the regulation of tax avoidance at the complex and fuzzy boundary between acceptable and unacceptable tax practice. We develop an alternative, relational interpretation of tax regulation and contribute to a more nuanced understanding of regulatory practice within the tax field that also raises questions about regulatory practice more widely. We conclude by highlighting how a move towards 'relational' regulation might contribute to improved understanding of regulatory processes and practices. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
Abstract.
Oats LM, Leigh Pemberton J (2012). Key principles for efficient tax administration and main reform challenges. European Commission Economic Papers, 463, 52-59.
Oats LM, Sadler PB (2011). A conceptual map of tax rule change.
Australian Tax Forum,
26(2), 110-135.
Abstract:
A conceptual map of tax rule change
The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual map to assist tax scholars in
framing their analyses of tax rule change. The map is developed in two stages; the first
identifies the various factors that bring pressure to bear on the tax system to initiate
rule change. The second stage observes the subsequent effect of change, or a failure
to change, in terms of taxpayer response, which in turn becomes a further pressure for
more change. The map is illustrated using two vignettes from different periods in time,
and it is hoped that it will inspire tax scholars, from whatever disciplinary background,
to embrace the complexity and hidden depths of tax as a field of enquiry.
Abstract.
Boden R, Killian S, Mulligan E, Oats L (2010). Critical perspectives on taxation. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 21(7), 541-544.
Mulligan E, Oats L (2009). Tax Risk Management: Evidence from the US. British Tax Review, 1(6), 680-703.
Oats L, Sadler P (2008). Accounting for the Stamp Act Crisis. Accounting Historians Journal, 35(2), 101-143.
Oats L, Sadler P (2008). Tax and the Labour Market: Taxing Personal Services Income in the UK. Journal of Applied Law and Practice, 1(1), 59-79.
Frecknall Hughes J, Oats L (2007). King John’s Tax Innovations: Extortion, Resistance and the Establishment of the Principle of Taxation by Consent. Accounting Historians Journal, 34(2), 75-107.
Oats L, Sadler P (2007). Securing the Repeal of the Tax on Material Thought. Accounting Business and Financial History, 17(3), 355-373.
Oats L (2005). Distinguishing Closely-Held Companies for Taxation Purposes: Australian Experience 1930 – 1972. Accounting Business and Financial History, 15(1), 35-61.
Oats L, Sadler P (2004). Political Suppression or Revenue Raising? Taxing Newspapers during the French Revolutionary Wars. Accounting Historians' Journal, 31(1), 91-128.
Oats L, Sadler P (2004). Political suppression or revenue raising? Taxing newspapers during the French revolutionary war.
Accounting Historians Journal,
31(1), 93-128.
Abstract:
Political suppression or revenue raising? Taxing newspapers during the French revolutionary war
In 1797 the Prime Minister of Great Britain announced a substantial increase in the stamp duty on newspapers. This increase, and indeed the tax itself, has been variously represented as an attack on press freedom and an act of suppression of the working classes. This paper reconsiders these representations by reference to primary sources and concludes that the increases in stamp duty were part of a revenue raising exercise in which taxes on a number of luxury items were increased, including newspapers which were not at the time viewed as being necessities.
Abstract.
Sadler P, Oats L (2002). This Great Crisis in the Republick of Letters: the Introduction in 1712 of Stamp Duties on Newspapers and Pamphlets. British Tax Review, 1(4), 353-366.
Oats L (2000). Undistributed Profits Tax in Australia. Australian Tax Forum, 15(2), 427-457.
James SR, Oats L (1998). Tax Harmonisation and the Case of Corporate Taxation. Revenue Law Journal, 8, 36-61.
Chapters
Lamb M, Oats L (2020). Taxation. In (Ed)
The Routledge Companion to Accounting History, 694-715.
Abstract:
Taxation
Abstract.
Zu Y, Oats L (2019). The Role of the Office of Tax Simplification in the United Kingdom and Lessons for Other Countries. In Evans C, Franzsen R, Stack L (Eds.)
Tax Simplification: an African Perspective, Pretoria University Law Press.
Abstract:
The Role of the Office of Tax Simplification in the United Kingdom and Lessons for Other Countries
Abstract.
Oats L, Miller A (2017). III.72 Tax Evasion and Mutual Assistance. In (Ed) Elgar Encyclopedia of International Economic Law, Edward Elgar Publishing, 512-514.
Oats L, Morris G (2017). Tax avoidance, power, and politics. In (Ed)
The Routledge Companion to Tax Avoidance Research, Routledge Companions in Business, Management and Accounting.
Abstract:
Tax avoidance, power, and politics
Abstract.
Oats LM, Morris GM (2015). Tax Complexity and Symbolic Power. In (Ed)
Tax Simplification, the Netherlands: Kluwer Law International, 25-40.
Abstract:
Tax Complexity and Symbolic Power
Abstract.
Billings M, Oats L, de Cogan D (2015). The Board of Referees: “A Most Useful Addition to Fiscal Machinery”. In Harris P (Ed)
Studies in the History of Tax Law, Oxford: Hart Publishing, 107-132.
Abstract:
The Board of Referees: “A Most Useful Addition to Fiscal Machinery”
Abstract.
Oats LM, Gracia L (2014). Taxation as a social and institutional practice. In Imam C (Ed) Wiley Dictionary of Management, Wiley.
Oats LM, Sadler P (2013). When accounting and law collide: the curious case of pre-1914 dividends in Australia. In Tiley J (Ed) Studies in Tax Law History, Oxford: Hart Publishing.
Rogers H, Oats L (2012). Case studies. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 26-33.
Oats L, Rogers H (2012). Communities of experts. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 107-113.
Oats L (2012). Gathering and interpreting qualitative data. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 19-25.
Oats L (2012). Governmentality. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 120-125.
Oats L, Gracia L (2012). Insights from Bourdieu. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 114-119.
Oats L (2012). On methods and methodology. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 9-18.
Oats L (2012). Tax as a social and institutional practice. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 3-8.
Oats L (2012). Tax research going forward. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 242-245.
Oats L, Tuck P (2012). The changing role of accountants in HMRC. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 171-177.
Oats L (2012). Varieties of institutionalism. In (Ed) Taxation: a Fieldwork Research Handbook, 75-79.
Oats L, Tuck P (2009). The increasing use of financial reporting specialists to secure tax compliance: a UK Study. In Evans C, Walpole M (Eds.) Tax Administration: Safe Harbours and New Horizons, Birmingham: Fiscal Publications.
Hewitt P, Lymer A, Oats L (2002). History of International Business Taxation. In (Ed) The International Taxation System, Springer Nature, 43-60.
Oats L (2002). Taxing Companies and Their Shareholders: Design Issues. In (Ed) The International Taxation System, Springer Nature, 249-271.
