The challenge of institutional integrity in responsive regulation: field inspections by the Australian Taxation Office

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/37374

Title: The challenge of institutional integrity in responsive regulation: field inspections by the Australian Taxation Office
Author(s): Waller, Vivienne
Abstract: Based on responsive regulation, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) Compliance Model was developed as a way of dealing with the complexities of the Australian tax system. This article demonstrates some of the challenges that come with introducing responsive regulation into a bureaucracy such as the ATO. Selznick's ideas of institutional integrity provide a conceptual framework that allows the regulatory agency engaged in responsive regulation to emphasize voluntary compliance and the building of positive relationships with the regulatee, while simultaneously ensuring that non-compliance is both detected and dealt with. Using evidence from a qualitative study of ATO 'walk-ins' with used car dealers, the article demonstrates the unintended consequences that can occur without institutional integrity both at the level of design and at the level of everyday ATO field-officer practices.
Publication type: Journal article
Source: Law and Policy, Vol. 29, no. 1 (Jan 2007), pp. 67-83
Publication year: 2007
Keyword(s): ATO; Australia; Australian Taxation Office; Australian Taxation Office Compliance Model; Taxation systems
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing
ISSN: 0265-8240
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9930.2007.00246.x
Peer reviewed