Benjamin Franklin famously said that nothing was certain in life except death and taxes, but it’s nonetheless fair to say that happiness about paying taxes varies across the population.

Research from the University of Kansas suggests our acceptance of paying taxes rises when we know more about how those taxes are used to help others.

The findings emerged after four experiments were conducted to gauge people’s views about taxation.  In total, over 470,000 adults from over 100 countries participated in the research.

Tax avoidance

The research comes against a backdrop of tax avoidance that costs governments billions of dollars per year, with such actions reflecting a general discontent about paying the full amount of taxation owed.

“Some people will even go to extreme lengths to avoid paying taxes. Our findings raise an intriguing possibility– would Canadians be more willing to pay their taxes if the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) better publicized how their tax dollars help others?,” the researchers ask.

The researchers believe this relationship between showing how taxes are used to help others and the general willingness to pay one’s taxes holds even when a variety of other demographic, economic and even psychological factors are considered.  Indeed, it even holds when factoring in the opinion people have about whether tax money is spent wisely or not.

“These findings align with a growing body of research underscoring the pro-social nature of human behaviour,” they conclude. “And offer a more optimistic perspective on taxation.”

Whether governments tap into these findings and begin communicating how taxes help society more effectively remains to be seen.  It’s certainly food for thought however.