Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Abstract
Tax professionals are required to serve two masters equally: their client and the tax law. Often, serving these two masters creates conflicts that put the tax professional in a tension filled environment. We interviewed 29 tax professionals to generate a grounded theory about how tax professionals use their experiences, tools, training, judgment and decision-making processes to manage the tension they feel. Research is scant about how adherence to professional requirements and responsibilities weigh on tax professionals' advocacy attitudes and behaviors and about how tax professionals understand or define client loyalty and its relationship to regulatory and professional standards. Our data revealed that tax professionals in the Big 4 CPA firms dealt with their professional responsibilities and client loyalties differently than tax professionals who were sole practitioners. Also, we found that tax advice is produced and reproduced in an evolutionary decision-making process that often produces inconsistent and different results.
Keywords
tension, professional standards, tax advice, client loyalty, responsibilities, relationships, Big 4, sole practitioners, regional
Rights
© The Author(s). Kelvin Smith Library provides access for non-commercial, personal, or research use only. All other use, including but not limited to commercial or scholarly reproductions, redistribution, publication or transmission, whether by electronic means or otherwise, without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Jones, David E., "Institutional Compliance vs. Client Loyalty in the Consideration of Ambiguous Issues: The Social Construction of Tax Advice" (2011). Student Scholarship. 256.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/256