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<p>Why do citizens pay taxes even when the risk of detection is low? Traditional economic models struggle to answer this question because they treat legal language as a neutral transmission mechanism. This study challenges that assumption, arguing that tax law does not merely regulate behavior—it actively constructs the very category of “fiscal citizen” through semiotic processes that shape how individuals understand their relationship to the state. Drawing on Peircean semiotics, the analysis examines constitutional provisions and court decisions from Italy, Germany, and Spain to demonstrate how legal discourse employs solidarity metaphors, capability narratives, and moral framing to transform tax obligations from external impositions into expressions of civic identity. The findings reveal significant cross-jurisdictional variation in semiotic strategies despite superficially similar solidarity rhetoric: Italian discourse emphasizes participation and mutual obligation, German discourse emphasizes constitutional protection and rule-of-law legitimacy, while Spanish discourse emphasizes redistribution and social cohesion. The study proposes a “Semiotic Compliance Model” that integrates sign theory with existing behavioral frameworks, offering both theoretical insights and practical implications for tax policy design. The research suggests that effective fiscal governance depends not only on institutional design but also on sophisticated understanding of how legal semiotics constructs civic identity and moral obligation.</p>

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The Legal Semiotics of Tax Compliance: How the Language of Law Constructs Fiscal Citizenship

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年2月12日

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  • Ikrom Abdurasulovich Ergashev

摘要

Why do citizens pay taxes even when the risk of detection is low? Traditional economic models struggle to answer this question because they treat legal language as a neutral transmission mechanism. This study challenges that assumption, arguing that tax law does not merely regulate behavior—it actively constructs the very category of “fiscal citizen” through semiotic processes that shape how individuals understand their relationship to the state. Drawing on Peircean semiotics, the analysis examines constitutional provisions and court decisions from Italy, Germany, and Spain to demonstrate how legal discourse employs solidarity metaphors, capability narratives, and moral framing to transform tax obligations from external impositions into expressions of civic identity. The findings reveal significant cross-jurisdictional variation in semiotic strategies despite superficially similar solidarity rhetoric: Italian discourse emphasizes participation and mutual obligation, German discourse emphasizes constitutional protection and rule-of-law legitimacy, while Spanish discourse emphasizes redistribution and social cohesion. The study proposes a “Semiotic Compliance Model” that integrates sign theory with existing behavioral frameworks, offering both theoretical insights and practical implications for tax policy design. The research suggests that effective fiscal governance depends not only on institutional design but also on sophisticated understanding of how legal semiotics constructs civic identity and moral obligation.