Using Technology Acceptance Theory to Model Individual Differences in Tax Software Use

This paper explores how performance and effort expectations, social influences, privacy concerns, and risk affect individual intention to use tax preparation software. We contribute to the extensive technology acceptance literature in three ways. First, we examine the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model in the novel context of individual tax preparation software choice and confirm the theory’s validity outside the “traditional” environment of business organizations. Second, we investigate whether technology acceptance is different for “experts” compared to “novices” in the complex domain of the U.S. tax law. Third, we include constructs related to privacy and risk and test this extension of the technology acceptance model. Results indicate dissimilarities between the two groups and suggest the technology acceptance model may not be equally applicable to “professionals” and “novices.

Repeated Task Performance and Numeric Outcome Feedback in a Complex Decision Environment: Working Paper Series--10-09

Many business scenarios involve similar decisions over repeated iterations. Often, decision-makers are provided with numeric feedback between iterations. We examine the effect of numeric outcome feedback in a complex accounting task. Prior psychology research indicates that outcome feedback is largely ineffective (or even counter-effective) at improving performance in complex tasks (see Balzer et al., 1989; Todd and Hammond, 1965; Hammond and Summers, 1972; Hammond et al., 1973). However, Libby (1981) speculates that these results may be caused by the tendency of psychology research to use abstract tasks with no real-life application, thus making the learning process more difficult. Consistent with this speculation, we find that OFB can, in fact, improve performance in a complex numeric-feedback task which is placed in a more-meaningful learning environment. We find that repetition (without OFB) does not improve performance in this environment. We discuss the importance of OFB, rather than the intuitively appealing step-by-step feedback (Bonner and Walker 1994), in a world characterized by time constraints and easy information access

Silver City: A Case Study

The Silver City Case is designed for an advanced accounting or MBA class and provides students with the opportunity to analyze relevant information extracted from different types of business entities. These range from publicly traded corporations to non-corporate and/or non-public entities. Students are required to make a decision on the viability of a bid on a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a sports facility construction project. The primary objective is to provide a foundation for the evaluation of complex business entities. This requires the dismantling of the business structure to the point that it can be analyzed on an individual entity basis. The achievement of this objective requires students to understand the type of financial information that can be derived from each of the different entities as well as determining the reliability of such information. Furthermore, the case offers opportunities to discuss underlying guarantees that keep the business structures together

Tax harmonization in the European Union and the eurozone: a multilateral analysis of tax systems

This exploratory study takes a new look at the tax systems of countries in the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We measure a country’s tax system using time-series cross-sectional data on tax collection variables as well as a cross-sectional metric assessing tax administration and enforcement. More specifically, we examine the countries’ (i) overall tax burden, (ii) income tax reliance, and (iii) fiscal decentralization as well as some “non-rate” variables related to tax administration and enforcement. The purpose is to compare European Union (EU) member states and those countries in the eurozone with other OECD countries and over time in order to test (1) whether EU member states and eurozone countries have tax systems that are more similar to each other than to other countries, and (2) whether some tax harmonization is taking place – within the EU (eurozone) and other countries. The descriptive analysis and graphical representation, as well as first empirical tests, show that the tax systems of EU member states and eurozone countries are significantly different from other countries’tax systems. Yet, we do not find much tax harmonization in the EU (eurozone) countries over time. Future research might delve more into the question what drives harmonization with the intention of eventually formulating policy strategies

Tax harmonization in the European Union and the eurozone: a multilateral analysis of tax systems

This exploratory study takes a new look at the tax systems of countries in the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). We measure a country’s tax system using time-series cross-sectional data on tax collection variables as well as a cross-sectional metric assessing tax administration and enforcement. More specifically, we examine the countries’ (i) overall tax burden, (ii) income tax reliance, and (iii) fiscal decentralization as well as some “non-rate” variables related to tax administration and enforcement. The purpose is to compare European Union (EU) member states and those countries in the eurozone with other OECD countries and over time in order to test (1) whether EU member states and eurozone countries have tax systems that are more similar to each other than to other countries, and (2) whether some tax harmonization is taking place – within the EU (eurozone) and other countries. The descriptive analysis and graphical representation, as well as first empirical tests, show that the tax systems of EU member states and eurozone countries are significantly different from other countries’ tax systems. Yet, we do not find much tax harmonization in the EU (eurozone) countries over time. Future research might delve more into the question what drives harmonization with the intention of eventually formulating policy strategies