Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1273-7228

Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

DBA

College

Chambers College of Business and Economics

Department

Accounting

Committee Chair

Christian Schaupp

Committee Co-Chair

Daniel Bonneau

Committee Member

Scott Fleming

Committee Member

Elizabeth Vitullo

Abstract

The United States government has a responsibility to American citizens to be a good financial steward of their tax dollars. The inability to fulfill this responsibility is evidenced by 28 consecutive years of audit failures, whereby the Government Accountability Office has been unable to issue an opinion on the United States government’s annual financial statements. An experiment varying audit opinion type is used to evaluate whether the United States government failing (or passing) its annual financial statement audits influences attitudes toward federal taxation. Findings show support for federal taxation is strongest when citizens are told that the United States government passed its financial statement audit every year. When citizens are told that the United States government failed its most recent audit, support for federal taxation decreases significantly. Overall, the results suggest that the United States government can improve attitudes toward federal taxation by simply demonstrating that Americans’ tax dollars are properly accounted for.

Download

Included in

Accounting Commons

Share

COinS