Fiscal Sociology In Morocco

social — Fiscal Sociology In Morocco -A Study Of The Fiscal Relationship With The State And Society- Dr

Fiscal Sociology In Morocco

-A Study Of The Fiscal Relationship With The State And Society-

Dr. Madani Ahmiddouch

Professor of Public Law, specialized in finance and taxation Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah University of Fez

Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences in Fez

Dr. Youness Maleh

Professor of Public Law, Specializes in finance and taxation

Moulay Ismail University of Meknes Polydisiplinary Faculty of Errachidia

ABSTRACT

Taxation is a central process for businesses, which justifies the social treatment of fiscal realities. The sociology of taxation, which is discussed in this article, seeks to understand the relationships between taxation, the state and society. It is a science that is interested in the construction and development of public institutions around taxation, and questions the fiscal legitimacy of the State for the citizen, and finally proposes a reflection on tax justice and financial democracy. This article attempts to put its finger on questions of fiscal sociology, and to link them to questions of general sociology. It answers the central question inherent in the way sociology analyzes the tripartite relationship between taxation, the state and society?.

Keywords: sociology, taxation, state, society

سوسيولوجيا الضريبة في المغرب – دراسة في العلاقة الضريبية بين الدولة والمجتمع –

ملخص:

الضرائب هي عملية أساسية بالنسبة للشركات، مما يبرر المعالجة الاجتماعية للواقع المالي. وتسعى علم اجتماع الضرائب، الذي تناقشه هذه المقالة، إلى فهم العلاقات بين الضرائب والدولة والمجتمع. وهو علم يهتم ببناء وتطوير المؤسسات العامة حول الضرائب، ويتساءل عن الشرعية الضريبية للدولة بالنسبة للمواطن، ويقترح في النهاية تفكيرا حول العدالة الضريبية والديمقراطية المالية. يحاول هذا المقال أن يحدد أسئلة علم الاجتماع الضريبي، ويربطها بأسئلة علم الاجتماع العام. ويجيب على السؤال المركزي الكامن في الطريقة التي يحلل بها علم الاجتماع العلاقة الثلاثية بين الضرائب والدولة والمجتمع.

الكلمات المفتاحية: علم الاجتماع، الضرائب، الدولة، المجتمع

Introduction

The tax issue is considered one of the technical and technical issues par excellence, and it is characterized by its permanent and continuous transformation, and it tries to keep pace with the transformations experienced by society and the economy, but it is rather one of the issues of the state intervention tools for change. In this sense, the tax is linked to society, influences it and is affected by it, and it cannot be reduced to the only technical and engineering dimension. Rather, it is a social phenomenon that reflects the reality of society and the State, and calls for its reform, a sociological diagnosis, which can provide quantitative and qualitative data, which can be useful in tax reform, and in response to data Social reality and expectations.

Taxes thus have an original character; they are an object of public policy (tax policy) and an instrument of other public policies. In order to follow the evolution of the interventionist state, it is necessary to adopt a functional approach to the tax system – as suggested by the economist Musgrave in 1959 But the main functions of taxation highlighted by Musgrave (allocation of resources to produce goods, redistribution, regulation of the economy), constitute today a very restrictive analytical framework for understanding the tax system and its evolution (Musgrave R.A. (1959)). These key functions are tending to become blurred, in discourse and practice, under the influence of two sets of factors (Brodsky D.M. and Thompson E. (1993)).

The first factor is the exploitation of the tax in the context of issues related to economic, social, cultural and regional specificities. Fairness and consistency of taxation are no longer issues for policy makers, or even for citizens in general. Public change in the tax system is rarely on the agenda of policy makers. The logic of sectoral, categorical and, more recently, territorial adjustment is favoured by governments that are often interested in political and electoral settlements (Brodsky D.M. and Thompson E. (1993)).

Second, the complexity of the tax system increases the uncertainty of traditional tax functions. Of course, this second factor arises from the variety of automated uses of taxation by the interventionist state; but it then causes its own effects to mask the general logic of the tax system. Consequently, the resource allocation function is challenged by the use of other budgetary resources, notably borrowing. Sectoral economic tax measures are implemented to the detriment of the macroeconomic regulation function. The redistributive function struggles to adapt to the government’s agendas. There are many peculiarities, and many tax loopholes that encourage tax evasion, particularly through the “tax loopholes” column (Dubergé J. (1962)).

Financial sociology distinguishes the feeling of justice, as felt by society, social groups or citizens, from the objective establishment of social justice through taxation. Justice questions the objective dimension and the feeling of public opinion. It is a more complex and richer social concept than justice, and it is a more economic approach. Horizontal justice aims at treating equally those who are similarly situated, and vertical justice aims at a better distribution of wealth, by reducing inequalities between the richest and the poorest classes through compulsory taxation. Tax justice includes a democratic dimension of (real) consent to tax choices.

Research Problem

The tax has not been a financial cut to finance only the budgets of countries, but also reflects the particularity of a civilization, affects the society and is at the heart of it. Therefore, any omission of this data, or treat it in a secondary and insignificant way, threatens any reform of resistance and rejection of the community, which can affect the tension between society and the state and lead to perpetuate negative phenomena in society. and limiting its effectiveness. So why the need for a sociology of taxation? Do we need such an approach to the diagnosis and reform of taxation in Morocco? How can such an approach provide a new understanding of society’s relationship with taxation?

he research Hypothesis:

To address the above main problem, the following two assumptions will be made:

Fiscal sociology, as a branch of sociology, proposes as a first point a theoretical and empirical approach to the social determinants of fiscal policies, rationalization in a situation of constraint, and as a second point social justice through taxation. Tax permeates all aspects of the social life of citizens, affects their pockets and their lives and limits their development.

The Importance Of The Subject:

The field of study of fiscal sociology is considered a basic entry point to know the mysteries of the tax system and identify areas closely related to the tax aspect, so the importance of the subject derives from the fact that The tax field in Morocco shows the predominance of legal and economic approaches, as each of them is based on the understanding and study of taxation on one of its dimensions, which often reflects a reductionist conception of it, which does not go beyond dealing with its technical rules and procedures to determine them, how to calculate, collect and contest them, and to study their impact and their economic and financial repercussions, which prevents considering the tax as a sociological fact, and the obliged to it as a real social actor, and the administration in charge of its implementation in the framework of a bureaucratic system. It is not possible to isolate the tax deduction in general from its social context and the reality of social justice.

Fiscal sociology, as a branch of sociology, proposes a theoretical and empirical approach to the social determinants of tax policies, rationalization in the position of the taxpayer and social justice through taxation, all of which are fundamental determinants that should be taken into account in any tax reform, and in the elaboration of any tax policy, because taxes permeate all aspects of the social life of citizens, affect their pockets and their lives, and determine their development.

Research Methodology:

The historical method will be used by knowing the historical evolution of the tax in relation to social, institutional and political transformations, as well as the descriptive analysis method by describing the reality of the tax and analyzing it in the light of the sociological approach.

Research Plan:

Sociological representations of the tax in Morocco

The importance of the sociological approach to taxation

Sociological Representations Of The Tax In Morocco

Tax sociology is an important approach both for the academic researcher interested in taxation, the citizen directly concerned with taxation, and for tax policy makers (Leray, (M), 2002), as confirmed by the various cases of tax policies and exemptions of socio-economic categories, and reflected in the history of tax protests in Morocco since the pre-colonial period (Ali Bentaleb, 2004), and expresses its forms of tax evasion, such as cheating, evasion, and others. Thus, it constitutes a central process in the functioning of societies focused on the study of sociological phenomena related to taxation.

Fiscal sociology links the particular issues of tax policy to the general problems of the social sciences. Thus (Marc Leroy, 2007):

the study of tax reforms refers to the question of variables and theoretical models of social change;

tax evasion is considered as a category of deviance

the tax revolt is analyzed within the paradigmatic framework of collective action;

the taxpayer’s decision is modeled by an extended rationality model;

the elaboration of tax policy is studied from the sociological functions of taxation;

the implementation of the tax by the administration is confronted with the theory of bureaucracy;

the social acceptance of taxes is related to the legitimacy of the State and public action;

tax collection and income redistribution through taxation are questioned in relation to theories and the lived context of social justice.

Table A: The Socio-Political Functions Of Taxes:

IMPÔT INDOLORE	It is not a social representation (example, but not always, of indirect taxes: TVA…)
Value Added Tax	Tax burden perceived as unbearable
TAX-CONSTRAINT	Tax burden perceived as too heavy
TAX-BOND	Tax paid to the public authority (one of the two pillars of the formation of the fiscal state in Europe): conception of the jurists
EXCHANGE TAX	Price to be paid by the taxpayer for the benefit (services) he receives from the community (economic conception)
TAX-CONTRIBUTION	The taxpayer considers it legitimate to finance public institutions or policies: political form of tax consent

Source : Sociology of Taxation: Sociopolitical Issues for a Dialogue with Economists; https://journals.openedition.org/socio-logos/2278

It is necessary to open the door to the sociology of taxation in Morocco in order to extend its feasibility and to highlight its approach in the light of the intense and strong presence of legal and economic approaches, and to be able to establish a rescue dialogue with these two dominant approaches, and to question the fundamental relations between taxation, the state and society. Tax, as mentioned above, is not a compulsory monetary sum that is paid by the members of society to the State only, but it goes beyond being a social phenomenon par excellence, reflecting the nature and form of the existing relations between the components of a particular society.

It is a shortcut to the nature of the relationship between society and the state, a tool for redistributing roles and creating new social hierarchies or preserving those that previously existed. For organized societies (Claud Ducros, (J), 1982), especially since they are a global phenomenon, they are not limited to one society without the other.

The question of the sociological determinants of taxation also poses the measure of the decrease in tax levies in relation to the lived reality and the demands for social justice that are increasing day by day. the achievement of justice in the distribution of the tax burden must be taken into account, so that the tax imposed is acceptable and does not occur. But what raises the most discussion in this regard is the model proposed to achieve this justice, and what are the criteria that can be adopted to achieve it, as the concept of justice itself is difficult to define and is affected by many factors, and is historically one of the reasons that contributed to the emergence of the English and French revolution, and allowed the societies of these states were transformed from mere subjects to citizens with the right to vote on the tax and control its use (Awada, Hassan, 1978), which made the tax state at that time in the history of Europe called The Tax State “the tax state.

The question of tax justice in Morocco’s contemporary history has remained a fundamental issue in the Moroccan political system. All the restorations that have been made to the tax systems since the pre-protection stage have failed to address it, based on the recommendations of the Madrid conference to adopt the arrangement tax in 1880 AD, and up to the recommendations of the third debate on levies held in Skhirat on 03 and 04 May 2019¹, for considerations related to social and political conditions based on rent and privilege for the benefit of individuals and groups with symbolic or material influence, and established through the frequency of political practices in this framework during an important period of modern and contemporary history of Morocco, and was related to the circle of the economic store that shrinks and expands .

It is normal and usual to pay and to pay taxes, and to pay them in abundance when one has a high income. The respect of the tax base is the first and main gesture of idealism and solidarity in a democratic society. Taxes are a basic condition for a “dignified life“(François Villeroy De Galhau, 2007).

In a democratic state, the use of coercion is legitimate if it is not contrary to the freedom and independence of citizens. And the power of coercion is linked to the principle of equitable distribution of the tax burden by polling contributing to the burden of tax approval under the sovereignty held by the people. Thus, the freedom of citizens, which is a condition of personal life, is not affected by the performance of public duties (Jean-Marie Monnier, 2012).

The problem of tax justice is not the only problem of Moroccan taxation, but rather a cosmic and moral problem intimately linked to taxation. The legal rules and economic models cannot put an end to the controversy about it, whether through the principle of general tax or the principle of equality before the tax, because they are blind and do not distinguish, and even when the work was done on their improvement by the theory of progressive tax applied to income tax, it was called emotional, irrational and dangerous (Marc (L) , 1996), because it compromises tax justice Thinking about a model of tax justice cannot be achieved without an integrated and clear vision of social justice, which refers to the components of society, the areas of conflict and influence within it, what social progress is, and the nature of the political and economic system in force.

Activate tax policy and invoke the status of coercion and the issue of tax justice, is not far from the relationship between the individual and society with the tax administration. Regulation of the tax decision, as in the case of tax control, is not just a simple application of the principles set by the authority and the formal rules of law, but rather a bureaucratic structure that reflects the administrative hierarchies and the network of relations and power related to the political and social system in force.

The sociological definition of the tax administration and its fiscal relationship with society is not obtained by looking at the administrative structure, its logistical and human capacities, its managerial and legal relationships with the members of society, but by working on the analysis and dismantling of bureaucratic relationships within this society. Institution based on statistical data, official figures, empirical studies and research on representations. Mentality and historical material according to sociological models that allow to understand and dismantle this relationship in the horizon of rationalizing the administrative decision and improve the relationship between the tax administration and the obligation.

The Importance Of The Sociological Approach To Taxation

Taxation represents a central process in the functioning of societies that falls within the general field of sociology, which provides the theoretical and methodological framework and the empirical research tools to address fiscal sociology outside of any reductionist theory, in order to analyze a number of general questions about the extent to which fiscal reform in Morocco is related to the country’s social, institutional, and political transformations, in a regional and international context rich with pressing economic, social, and political variables.

Tax sociology, as a branch of sociology, offers a theoretical and empirical approach to the social determinants of tax policies, rationalization in the position of the taxpayer and social justice through taxation, all of which are fundamental determinants that should be taken into account in any tax reform, and in the development of any tax policy, because taxation permeates all aspects of the social life of citizens, affects their pockets and their lives, and determines their development.

The tax field in Morocco shows the predominance of legal and economic approaches, as each of them is based on the understanding and study of taxation on one of its dimensions, which often reflects a reductionist conception of it, which does not go beyond dealing with its technical rules and procedures to determine them, calculating them, collecting them, contesting them, studying their impact and economic repercussions, and finance, which avoids seeing the tax as a sociological fact, and the people obliged by it as a real social actor (Leray, (M), 2002), and the administration in charge of its implementation as part of a bureaucratic system. It is not possible to isolate the tax deduction in general from its social context and the reality of social justice (Abdelatif fekkak, 2014).

Tax sociology is an important approach both for the academic researcher interested in taxation, the citizen directly concerned with taxation, and for tax policy makers, as confirmed by the various cases of tax policies and exemptions of socio-economic categories, and reflected in the history of tax protests in Morocco since the pre-colonial period, and expresses its forms of tax evasion, such as cheating, evasion, and others. Thus, it constitutes a central process in the functioning of societies focused on the study of sociological phenomena related to taxation.

The concept of tax justice varies according to historical, political and economic conditions, and it raises many discussions and controversies because of its relativity. Justice through taxation, according to “Lucien Mehul”, is the conformity of the principles and conditions of application of a specific tax system with socio-political rules recognized and accepted within society. He adds that the dominant norm in our contemporary societies is that of equality. In tax matters, the latter requires the generality of the tax, its proportionality with the quality of the creditor, and the equal treatment of the obliged by the tax administration (Belkhal Abdel-Fattah, 2001).

Therefore, a sociological treatment of tax phenomena must be undertaken in order to analyze a number of general questions, such as the relationship of tax reform to social, institutional and political transformations? And the extent of social satisfaction and acceptance of the tax, and its relation to the legitimacy of the state and its public policies? What about the degree of the burden of tax deductions and its relation to the reality of life and social justice? The sociology of taxation proposes a global social and political questioning, and a diagnosis of social structures and their transformations in relation to taxation and the State’s fiscal choices.

The sociology of taxation has its precursors; it has a significant body of research, especially if one adopts a broad definition of the discipline by including work in political science, social psychology and history. It benefits from an institutional visibility in Anglo-Saxon countries and is slowly blossoming in France. It is built on a critical dialogue with law and economics, proposing a social theory nourished by empirical data. It rejects the confiscation of the tax debate by experts, the absence of a global conception of tax justice and the dispersion of tax policies in technical particularisms cut off from social reality. On the contrary, it aims through its (positive) scientific analyses to reinforce the ethics of the tax-contribution, i.e. of a tax agreed upon for the financing of public policies of the State.

TABLE B: Sociological Representations Of Tax

Invisible-Tax	It is not a social representation (for example, but not always, indirect taxes: VAT…)
Tribute-Tax	The felt tax burden is intolerable
Constraint-Tax	The felt tax burden is too heavy
Obligation-Tax	Tax paid to public authorities (one of the two bases of the formation of the tax State in Europe): legal concept
Exchange-Tax	Price paid by the taxpayer for the benefit (services) which he receives from the society: Economic concept
Contribution-Tax	Taxpayer judges it legitimate to finance public institutions or policies: Political form of tax consent

Source: Marc Leroy, “Tax Sociology,” Socio-logos [Online], 3 | 2008, online 21 February 2016, accessed 27 August 2022. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/socio-logos/2073; DOI:

Research Results

A more just society cannot be achieved by economic policy alone. But well-designed fiscal policy is essential. Revenues, whether from taxes or natural resources, can be used to sustain growth and improve the distribution of wealth and well-being through spending on infrastructure, health care and education. Taxes – which are a vital meeting point between the state and the citizen – can also play an important role in achieving the desired tax justice.

The fair tax system is considered one of the main indicators of the process of reallocating resources to meet the basic and priority needs of the country’s population, far from being reduced to a simple means or technical tool for collecting taxes and allocating resources for the implementation of public policies The fair tax system can be an important lever It provides data and information on the economic model adopted by each country It can also guide and frame policy choices and shape the relationship between citizens and public institutions at the national and territorial levels.

The tax is not only a financial, economic and political reality related to the financing, the revival of the economy and the imposition of sovereignty. The heart of the sociological approach, which is absent in the dealings of decision-makers and those responsible for tax policy in Morocco at every attempt to reform our tax system, because the international and national economic and financial conditions are not only invoked instead, it takes into account the reality of the tax administration and its capacities, the logistical aspect of tax enforcement, the representation of society about it and its social groups, the forms of protest and rejection of it, the existing pressure groups, its work force and its impact on the main choices of tax policy, the political color of the team in power and its role in defining policies. Taxes, with the horizon of building a more complete model of tax policy, and helping people to become aware of their problems, so that the social knowledge of taxes becomes a tool to change the relationship between society and taxes, and between society and the State from a scheme of privileges, evasion and rent to a regime of right, duty and citizenship.

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