The tax inspection procedure depends on a set of interactions between the tax
inspector and the taxpayer. Tax inspectors are responsible for conducting this
relationship and they have a large set of legal prerogatives to use - power actions.
The way those power actions are used may define the taxpayers propensity to
regularize their tax situation or, on the contrary, adopt a position of resistance
or confrontation. From a questionnaire carried out with 85 Portuguese Tax
Inspectors (PTIs), 40 power actions were analyzed. We identify five different
levels of power actions according to their harshness. We have also analyzed the
correlations between frequency of use and perceived efficiency. We conclude
that PTIs do not use more invasive power actions very often, even though
these are perceived as more efficient.publishe
