The slippery slope framework: A comprehensive evaluation of factors affecting trust and power

Abstract Many empirical studies have been conducted to test the assumptions of the slippery slope framework (SSF). However, although the SSF theory has introduced several tax compliance factors that are believed to have associations with trust in tax authorities and power of tax authorities, most studies tend to include only the two main domains of trust and power in the analysis. None of these studies comprehensively investigates the factors. Therefore, this study is dedicated to fully elaborating on these factors and their correlations with the two main domains of trust and power separately and simultaneously. The results show that most factors are proven to significantly influence trust and power. Tax penalties, norms, distributive fairness and retributive fairness significantly and positively influence trust, while audit probabilities, tax penalties, attitudes, norms and retributive fairness have significant and positive correlations with power. The results also confirm the main SSF assumptions that trust leads to voluntary compliance, while voluntary compliance positively affects overall tax compliance. However, this study fails to demonstrate the relationship of power with enforced compliance, while enforced compliance is found to negatively affect overall tax compliance.