Materiality of Source Documents as a Mechanism in Tax Avoidance

Abstract

Through this study, the materiality of the source documents as an object of tax avoidance by taxpayers is addressed, an action that, for companies that provide accounting-tax services, hinders the correct issuance of sales and withholding receipts, increasing the financial penalties. The research focuses its methodology on the interpretive paradigm with a qualitative approach, using the case study as a particular method, this allowed comparing the experience of 6 key informants from the Esmeraldas canton through a semi-structured interview. One of the predominant findings is based on the scarcity of basic verification criteria in each of the source documents, such as the correct name of the taxpayer, month to declare, expiration date, and numbering sequence. Based on the foregoing, it is concluded that the materiality of these documents is part of the process of establishing the tax culture in taxpayers, something that must alert everybody, since ignorance of formal duties does not exclude the application of tax sanctions typified in the instructions issued by the entity of control.