Can culture affect taxation behaviours? In Part 1, I explored how cultural issues regarding compliance and morale affect taxation behaviour. In this article I look closer at how taxation attitudes and rules can affect migration decisions. This is particularly an issue in the European Union, where the single economic area should theoretically encourage cross-border migration.

Can tax be cultural? The answer is a definitive “yes.” Whether we pay our tax happily and on time, or try to avoid paying it at all, can be determined not only by our personal characteristics, but also by where we come from. 

These differences in tax culture have been described in many different branches of research, including psychology, economics, and sociology. In the early days, this work focused less on the behaviours of people, and more on why tax systems varied from place to place.

People living and travelling in the European Union face ongoing difficulties managing their finances across national borders. Payments present ongoing problems for cross-border travellers and commuters, since EU countries differ as to what kinds of payment mechanisms dominate, and credit cards aren't accepted everywhere.

For example, some parking meters in the Netherlands only accept Dutch debit cards, which can cause problems for German and Belgian day-trippers who cross the border to shop. And if the situation is difficult for EU residents, it is even harder for migrants from outside the EU. 

I am very pleased to announce a new Research Network as part of the European Women Payments Network, which is co-led by myself and Dr. Anette Broløs. 

The EWPN Research Network brings together payments researchers working in industry, academia, and not-for-profit organisations. We work together to connect, create, and collaborate on research projects and activities. Our goal is to improve the quality of payments research and advance our knowledge of the role of payments in society and industry.

The EWPN Research Network is free to join. To sign up, please email research@ewpn.eu

The EWPN Research Network will be formally launched at the EWPN Annual Conference on the 4th and 5th of June, 2019:

• 4th June, 14:00-17:30 – “Open Space: Building an EWPN Research Network” (maximum 50 people)
• 5th June – “Why does Payments Research Matter? Launch of the EWPN Research Network”

For more information see the EWPN conference 2019 website. You can register for the conference on Eventbrite.