Portuguese Chartered Accountants' Perceptions of SME Tax Compliance: The Role of Taxing Expenses

This study presents an empirical analysis related to the following research question: What is the Portuguese chartered accountants' perception of the role of the autonomous taxation of expenses (ATE) in small and medium firms' level of tax compliance, and especially when this perception is mediated by factors such as the size and the economic activity of firms? The authors tested to determine if there are differences in the perceptions of accountants, and results show that the respondents' application of ATE to micro and small companies has a positive impact on their perceptions of tax compliance. The same is not valid for medium-sized companies for which there is no significant effect on the perceptions of the role of ATE on small and medium enterprises (SME) tax compliance.