Tax evasion is a major issue for authorities worldwide. Understanding the factors that influence individuals’ intrinsic motivation to pay taxes, known as their tax morale, is important for improving tax compliance. This study investigated gender differences in judging tax evasion in the context of cryptocurrency trading. Specifically, a survey study explored whether different moral foundations, financial literacies, and political orientations among females vs. males might explain potential gender differences in judging tax evasion. In an online survey, 243 U.S. adults read a vignette about a friend evading taxes in a cryptocurrency trading context. In a correlational analysis, we found that females judged tax evasion harsher, as being more morally wrong than males. Of the psychographic factors, only individualizing moral foundation values (i.e., fairness and harm avoidance) explained the harsher moral judgment by females. That is, individualizing moral foundation values were at a higher level among females, which further predicted females’ harsher judgment of tax evasion. While females also had, on average, lower financial literacy and knowledge of cryptocurrencies than males, these did not predict their harsher judgment of tax evasion. The findings contribute to research on gender differences in moral judgments and highlight that a given transgression, or a specific crime, may violate different moral values in men and women. The results demonstrate to policy makers that it is important to take into account gender differences, in campaigns promoting tax morale and compliance.

Although new digital monetary instruments (e.g., cryptocurrencies) have emerged and proliferated, there is little academic research concerning consumer perspectives on these instruments or the effects of these instruments on consumers’ moral judgments. The present research addressed this gap in the literature by addressing the following research question: Is the morality of tax evasion judged differently when tax evasion is undertaken with cryptocurrency vs. traditional financial instruments (e.g., stocks)? In two online experiments, we exposed participants to a tax evasion scenario with either cryptocurrency or stock trading. The results of Study 1 showed that tax evasion is perceived as being less wrong when it is carried out with cryptocurrency trading rather than stock trading. Study 2 replicated Study 1 and tested an explanatory mediating mechanism hypothesized to underlie the main effect. A mediation analysis showed that the effect of cryptocurrency (vs. stock trading) on the perceived wrongness of tax evasion is partially mediated by the observer's positive (vs. negative) affective evaluation of the person committing tax evasion. This paper also discusses the theoretical, practical, and societal implications of the present results, including the likelihood that people's attitudes toward moral transgressions and crimes will be more lenient when these acts are conducted with new, innovative, and exciting instruments.