Corporate Tax Responsibility: Expectations of Implicit and Explicit CSR in the U.K. Media.

This article examines the evolving institutional expectations of corporate tax responsibility in the United Kingdom through the lens of explicit and implicit corporate social responsibility (CSR). Using a longitudinal content analysis of 992 UK news media articles from 2000 to 2021, the study finds that corporate tax responsibility has followed a non-linear, pendulum-like trajectory oscillating between explicit CSR—where companies are expected to voluntarily engage beyond legal compliance—and implicit CSR—where responsibility is primarily framed as legal compliance regulated by governments. The findings reveal four phases of hybrid CSR configurations combining elements of both explicit and implicit CSR, with recent years showing a renewed emphasis on implicit CSR amid global tax reforms and the COVID-19 pandemic. The study further refines the implicit/explicit CSR framework by proposing it as a continuum populated by hybrid forms rather than a strict dichotomy, highlighting the complexity and dynamic nature of CSR expectations related to corporate taxation.