More say, less evasion

DEMOCRACY reduces tax cheating, according to research for the Economic and Social Research Council. Allowing citizens a greater role in politics, such as through referenda, will reduce the number of tax evaders, according to research conducted by Bruno Frey of the University of Zurich. Tax cheating in Swiss cantons with direct democracy is 8 per cent lower than incantons with more traditional representative democracy, he found. Higher sanctions do not work, as they reduce "civic virtue".