This paper explores the tax evasion attitudes of taxpayers in Lebanon, a multi-religious country suffering from prevalent tax evasion. The study surveys 359 Lebanese taxpayers to determine the demographic factors influencing their perception toward tax evasion. The study examines linkages between different demographic variables and tax evasion attitudes. The results show that religion and gender are not major explanatory variables affecting tax evasion. Other demographic variables such as age, income, education and employment type seem to have more influence on tax evasion. Findings show that, with age, higher educational and income levels, taxpayers seem to express less favorable attitudes towards tax evasion. Self-employed individuals are also more prone to tax evasion than salaried employees. The study takes into consideration the motives behind tax evasion by differentiating between two types of tax evasion, Justice of Tax system tax evasion (JSTE) which stems from perceptions of injustice in the tax system and Self-interest tax evasion (SITE) which is the result of the desire of the taxpayer to maximize personal benefit. While employment type and education have an influence on JSTE but not SITE, age and income have an impact on SITE but not JSTE which highlights the importance of examining the motives behind tax evasion.
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