34.Internatonal Public Finance Conference / Turkey April 24-27, 2019, Antalya – Turkey April 24-27, 2019, Antalya - TURKEY 198 DOI: 10.26650/PB/SS10.2019.001.031 THE STRUCTURE OF TAX CULTURE AND TAXPAYERS’ PERCEPTIONS IN TURKEY * Emine YÖNEY 1 E. Figen ALTUĞ 2 Abstract This study investgates the tax culture in Turkey. The tax culture, which is an interdisciplinary and abstract concept, represents the transmission of the codes related to tax and way of thinking in a society through values, from generaton to generaton. This concept becomes tangible through tax behavior. In this respect, the aim of this study is to introduce the taxpayers’ percepton by dwelling on tax culture in Turkey within the framework of social values and tax behavior. Within this context, qualitatve research method is used in order to identfy the directon (positve or negatve) of tax culture in Turkey and to research the interactons between tax culture and tax behavior. Within this method, data collecton technique is practced with triangulaton process. The qualitatve data is visualized with content analysis; aferwards, the network analysis is conducted. The most substantal fnding acquired from the result of these analyses is the problems created in the tax payment and taxing culture due to abrasion in the value of fairness. Taxpayers, who profess that the tax culture is based on unfairness, express their negatve opinions by statng that “there is no tax culture”, “the level of tax culture is inadequate” and “tax culture is negatve” in Turkey. From this point of view, it is found out that tax culture in Turkey is a negatve tax culture. On the other hand, it is observed that the value of trust to the state, also in relaton to fairness, is considerably infuental on tax culture and tax behavior. Taxpayers, who think that taxing culture is based on the values of not questoning the state, patriotsm, and submissiveness, do not build a relatonship between these values and tax paying culture and tax behavior. The other signifcant fnding of this study is that the value of religiousness has only a connecton with the behavior of voluntary tax compliance. On the contrary, the essental factors efectve in the transmission of the tax culture to the next generatons are tax paying culture, troubles in transforming the values into behavior, hope and expectatons for the future, the value of fairness, and the academicians who are one of the actors in the tax culture. Keywords: Tax Culture, Values, Tax Behavior, Voluntary Tax Compliance, Social Values. JEL Code: A13, A14, H26 1. Introducton Culture and the values resourcing it have signifcant importance for the understanding of the diferences between the societes and social behavior. Individuals adoptng the values and the culture of a society through socializing process have begun to be in accord with the society. On the other hand, the values assist the carrying of the behaviors to the required status by being transformed into judgments that depict the required actons. However, in some cases, the link between the values and the behaviors can be broken; thus, individuals may not perform actons in compliance with the values. * This study is reproduced from the doctoral dissertaton ttled “Tax Culture in Turkey: A Modeling According to Values and Tax Behavior” writen by Dr. Emine Yöney, under the advisory of Prof. Dr. E. Figen Altuğ. 1 Dr., emine.yoney@gmail.com 2 Prof. Dr., İstanbul University, efgen@istanbul.edu.tr