Fiscal Education: Measuring the Level of Knowledge and Influence of Socioeconomic Factors

Abstract

Tax education of the population is essential for any society. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the importance of tax education for the general population and simultaneously assess the level of knowledge about this subject of students enrolled at UNIFESP, from the Osasco campus in 2018, checking whether socioeconomic factors are relevant as explanatory variables for knowledge between the various social strata. In methodological terms, a quantitative approach was used and the typology was carried out through bibliographical and exploratory research. Descriptive analysis and multiple regression were also used to treat data from a questionnaire applied to 233 students from the Osasco campus, satisfying the requirement of being enrolled in 2018 in at least one of the five courses offered. Composed of two parts, the questionnaire allowed, in the first, to draw a socioeconomic profile of students on the Campus, with the second in charge of assessing knowledge related to tax education. It was possible to conclude that the specific knowledge of students in the area of ​​tax education is unsatisfactory, that the content related to tax principles is that of lesser domain and that socioeconomic factors are not significant to distinguish the level of tax knowledge of students from the Osasco campus, that is, no significant differences in knowledge were observed among students belonging to different social strata. Effective public policies to disseminate fiscal education at all educational levels, therefore, are essential and there are few studies of the nature used in this article.