**6. Conclusion**

In this chapter, I attempt to distinguish tax practitioner compliance from taxpayer compliance for a better understanding of tax compliance process. And I maintain that tax practitioner behavior can be assessed in the light of tax compliance, bringing about new perspective on tax compliance literature. As the extent and nature of tax practice are highly relevant to tax compliance, it is worthwhile to investigate the meaning of tax compliance in relation to tax practitioner compliance behavior.

As in taxpayer compliance, tax practitioner compliance can be either inadvertent or intentional. Tax practitioner noncompliance results the lack of professional competence and objectivity. Nevertheless, it is somehow inevitable for them to make mistakes due in part to the inherent uncertainty and ambiguity of the tax legislation. In order for them to ensure compliance, the tax practitioners continue to develop their professional skills; they must stay knowledgeable about current tax issues that have impact, positively or negatively, on their clients. Furthermore, the tax practitioner should be responsive to the environment in terms of both what clients want as well as what tax laws allow. However, their ethical judgment based on professional proficiency should not be affected by client pressure.

In return for their prestige, professions have certain obligations to their clients, colleagues, and the society [65]. For the meaning of tax compliance must include both compliance with the letter of the law and a respectful attitude toward the spirit of the law and fiscal policy [66], tax practitioner compliance may as well be construed in their decisions as well as underlying attitudes toward clients, colleagues, and the tax system. As a service provider, the tax practitioner must strive to reduce inconsistencies between expectations and experiences. As a member of the professions, the tax practitioner refrains from abusive tax schemes that can stimulate institutional corruptions. As a professional, the tax practitioner should safeguard the integrity of the tax system. In short, the tax practitioners should be carefully place themselves between tax authority and their clients as watch dogs to maintain the integrity of the tax system.

Tax practitioners' noncompliance, in its extreme, occurs when they ignore clients' legitimate right to reduce tax dues, but in its other extreme, tax practitioner noncompliance ensues from their acceptance or collusion of tax evasion. It is therefore necessary for tax authorities to acknowledge that tax practitioners play a role of effective interventions to improve taxpayer compliance. Above all, the practitioners are the ones to prevent taxpayers from taking overly aggressive or/and illegal tax positions. Furthermore, business taxpayers and their tax practitioners can be highly interdependent for tax practitioners can become business confidants [67].

There are many areas of research that have been understudied. Among them lies the conflict of interest between taxpayers and tax practitioner. Although the tax practitioner is hired by the taxpayer, they may act in accordance to their own interest rather than to the benefit of clients. This type of problem mostly arises from the information asymmetry between the taxpayer and the tax practitioner. Some practitioners may take advantage of private information to their own merit. The conflict of interest between taxpayers and tax practitioners that is worthwhile to be explored to establish a complete body of tax compliance literature.
