| Abstract: | This study addresses conflicting results between prior research documenting a client demand for aggressive practitioner-prepared returns and research establishing taxpayer preferences for accurate returns and cautious reporting behavior. Rather than rely on practitioner reports of client aggressiveness, the tax reporting preferences of clients are examined in afield experiment mailed to small businesses across the country. After subjects had indicated ex ante beliefs about the likelihood of independent contractor status, they significantly altered their behavioral intentions in the direction of a preparer's recommendation. This implies that prior results with practitioner samples may have been biased by the practitioners' personal views. Nonetheless, some aggressive subjects were not as willing to follow the preparer's advice as were the conservative subjects. Evidence is presented on variables that correlate with aggressive tax decision making. |
