Italian Tax Mores Case Study

What are the pertinent facts of the case?

There are various pertinent facts in the case concerning the Italian taxing system and the bank general manager. First, the Italian taxing system is ethically wrong since it works under assumptions. It is not based on accurate data and therefore it is corrupt. It is also a fact that Italy embraced the inaccurate system of taxation by introducing the commercialista, which is a negotiations body that acts as intermediary between individual tax payers and the Italian fiscal authorities. We cannot run away from the fact thatcommercialista, earn from their services and a tax payer has to pay bustarellafor services offered.

Focusing on the bank general manager, it is a fact that he is in Italy and not in United States. It is also a fact that the taxation systems of the two countries are different such that one is accurate while the other is not. The other pertinent fact is that the bank general manager was shown how tax matters were solved by the commercialista failure to which he would bear the consequences of rejecting them.

What are the ethical issue(s) facing the bank's general manager?

The general managed is facing several ethical issue that end up costing him a lot. First, he is faced with the issue of dishonest which is to some extent the lifestyle of the Italians. The manager is also challenged by the use of correct mode of communication to the authorities. He writes letters which is against the norms or customs of the Italians. The mode of communication ends up being fruitless. Assumption by the Italians is also an ethical issue because it is not based on facts and accuracy of the data provided. The other ethical issue is that of ignorance. He is ignorant on the advice he gets from the natives. His ignorance is seen when he lacks to refer to the corporate taxes of the Italian authorities.

Using the Underwood Personal Ethical Model, how do each of the elements of the ethical model (i.e. absolutes, laws, and moral philosophies) inform the bank's general manager about what to do?

With reference to the Underwood personal ethical model, absolute is the view that a certain action is intrinsically right or wrong without depending on the circumstances behind the action[1]. However, this element should not be applied in this case because the action of tax payment is dependent on the state's mode. It is important to note that ethical values have a close relation with the legal principles. However, it is evident that ethical conduct exceeds the legal conduct and in some cases the law mandates unethical conduct[2]. This element would help the bank's general manager to stay within the requirements of the tax authorities. The other concept to be considered in this model is moral philosophy. It groups a conduct whether it is wrong from different perspectives. This element would have opened the manager's eyes to know what is right in Italy and what was wrong[3].

What would you recommend is the most ethical decision the bank's general manager could make and why? (In other words, what should he have done, not what did he do.)

With reference to these elements, the bank's general manager would have avoided this tragedy by doing various actions that would have prevented the negative chronological occurrence of events that happened. I would have recommended the bank manager to adopt the new system of tax payment he found in Italy. This is because; the established system could not be changed by a single visitor or rather could not accommodate anyone who goes contrary to their rules. It is ethically right to adhere to the state laws even if they are not ethically right. He would have listened to the commercialista who have the full knowledge of the tax requirements.

 

Nyilasy, Gergely, and Leonard N. Reid. 2011. "Advertiser Pressure and the Personal Ethical Norms of Newspaper Editors and Ad Directors." Journal Of Advertising Research 51, no. 3: 538-551. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed June 8, 2016).

[2] Nyilasy, Gergely, and Leonard N. Reid. 2011. "Advertiser Pressure and the Personal Ethical Norms of Newspaper Editors and Ad Directors." Journal Of Advertising Research 51, no. 3: 538-551. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed June 8, 2016).

[3] Nyilasy, Gergely, and Leonard N. Reid. 2011. "Advertiser Pressure and the Personal Ethical Norms of Newspaper Editors and Ad Directors." Journal Of Advertising Research 51, no. 3: 538-551. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed June 8, 2016).