Ethical Analysis of Tax Software Bugs and Company Response

This report examines an ethical dilemma faced by a software development company that released tax software with significant bugs, leading to incorrect tax filings and penalties for users. The report begins with an introduction to ethical dilemmas, followed by a background on the software's development and release. It then analyzes the situation using the Doing Ethics Technique (DET) to identify key facts, issues, and affected parties. The report also applies the ACS Codes of Ethics, including the primacy of public interest, enhancement of quality of life, honesty, competence, professional development, and professionalism, to evaluate the company's actions and ethical implications. The analysis highlights the company's unethical decision to release the buggy software and the resulting damage to customer trust. The report concludes by suggesting that the company should prioritize customer well-being, take responsibility for its failures, and develop an improved version of the software. The report is a student contribution to Desklib, a platform offering AI-based study tools.

Running head: TAX BUGS
Tax Bugs
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1
TAX BUGS
Table of Contents
Introduction:................................................................................................................................................2
Background:.................................................................................................................................................2
Analysis using Doing Ethics Technique (DET):.........................................................................................3
ACS Codes of Ethics:..................................................................................................................................6
Analysis using the ACS code of professional conduct:...............................................................................8
 The primacy of public interest:....................................................................................................8
 The Enhancement of Quality of life:...........................................................................................8
 Professional Development:..........................................................................................................8
 Professionalism:...........................................................................................................................9
Violation of the important ACS code relating to the incident:....................................................................9
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................................10
References:................................................................................................................................................11

2
TAX BUGS
Introduction:
Ethical dilemma refers to the confusion that may occur due to the ethics of a person,
which may give rise to a very complex situation, and this might result in a conflict with someone
else having a different moral of view. Ethical dilemma can take place within someone at any
instance of time and at any place. This kind of dilemma might take place due to different
ideologies of differ persons and secondly this kind of dilemma is mostly seen in work places
after seeing a same course of work being repeatedly (Wright et al. 2014). The rules and
regulations of a company might not match with the ideology of an employee or the opposite
might also happen which then gives rise to an internal conflict and this finally results in a
dilemma (that is what actions should be taken and what actions should not to be taken)
(Iacobucci et al. 2013). The report is going to discuss about a certain case of ethical dilemma
where a software developer company makes a new software package for filing income taxes but
the bugs present in the software results in filing of incorrect tax returns. This report also
discusses about the ways to overcome this state of dilemma considering the ACS Codes of
professional conduct (Burmeister 2013).
Background:
A software developing company decided to produce a new software package
incorporated all the new tax laws, which can figure out the taxes for both individual and small
businesses (Borrás and Edquist 2013). The company expected to receive a large number of
complaints, queries, and suggestions, as they knew the software had a number of bugs. The
president of the company knew that the program of the software had many bugs and this
software is one of a kind. Due to this, the company expected to receive a number of complaints,
queries and suggestions for the modification of the company. The company had a disclaimer of

3
TAX BUGS
responsibility for errors resulting from the use of the program on its CD. The bugs in the
program lead to incorrect filing of the taxes leading to penalty for the users. The president of the
company stated that whoever buys the version 1.0 is aware of the general industry policy. The
president of the company knew that the bugs might create problem still the product was lunched
to get reviews about the product which the company could use to upgrade the product in future.
Initially the relation between the customer and the company got shattered (Lawrence and Weber
2014) and made the customers lose hope on the company.
Analysis using Doing Ethics Technique (DET):
Proper response from the company could be possible if it follows some rules of Doing
Ethics Technique (DET) (Miguel 2014). The company should first look into the matter properly
and investigate the reason responsible for the errors of the software, after that they should
consider all the ethical and non-ethical points of the decision they are to be take. Besides this,
considerations about the consequences of the decision taken by the company on the peoples
involved in the situation should be done. Proper statement should be prepared to support the
decision. The company must take some necessary steps to help its customers who have lost their
money. This incident is a lesson for the company and they should look for the betterment of the
software to avoid such mistakes.
Q1. What's going on?
The situation which has arisen over here is that the company has launched a software
containing the current taxation laws but due to its failure in the market has made the customers
suffer a lot and also effects the relation with customers (Alrubaiee 2012). Due to incorrect

4
TAX BUGS
calculation of the taxes the customers had to pay huge penalties after filing the incorrect taxes.
The president of the company knew that the bugs might create problem still the product was
lunched to get reviews about the product which the company could use to upgrade the product in
future.
Q2. What are the facts?
The main reason for this dilemma is due to the presence of bugs in the software. The bugs
present in the software were the main reason for the failure of the software. Due to this, the
company expected to receive a number of complaints, queries and suggestions for the
modification of the company. The company had a plan of using all this to make changes in the
program and eventually issue an updated improved and debugged version of the software. The
company had a disclaimer of responsibility for errors resulting from the use of the program on its
CD. The bugs in the program lead to incorrect filing of the taxes leading to penalty for the users.
Q3. What are the issues?
Due to the presence of the bugs in the software the filing of taxes was incorrect. This
incorrect filing made the customers suffer a lot of problems and also made them pay huge
penalties. The company had a disclaimer of responsibility for errors resulting from the use of the
program on its CD. The president of the company knew that the bugs might create problem but
still the product was lunched to get reviews about the product which the company could use to
upgrade the product in the future.
Q4. Who is affected?

5
TAX BUGS
The issue has effect the customers a lot besides that the failure has also effected the
company as the relation of trust got depleted when the president of the company even after
knowing the drawbacks of the software released it into the market. The huge effect was on the
customers as they had to pay huge taxes.
Q5. What are the ethical issues and implications?
The president of the company knew that the bugs might create problem still the product
was lunched to get reviews about the product which the company could use to upgrade the
product in future. The decision taken by the president of the company was totally unethical
(Crane and Matten 2016) as the reputation of the company got shattered totally just due to one
decision. It would be totally ethical if the company would have taken certain steps to compensate
for the losses of the customers.
Q6. What can be done about it?
The main objective of the company should be wellbeing of the customers. The company
should take necessary steps to support the needs of the company. The problems faced by the
customers should also be considered. They should think of launching an upgraded version which
do not consist of the bugs responsible for the errors.
Q7. What are the options?
The company had options of taking all the responsibilities of the failure and help the
customers in solving their problems. Other option for the company is to compensate for the
losses of the customer.
Q8. Which option is best - and why?

6
TAX BUGS
The best option for the company is to provide essential support to the customers and
should accept its fault. This is the best option as this can help in regain the trust of the customers
(Weiss 2014). The company can take a lesson from this incident and after accepting the faults
they can work for the production of the upgraded version.
ACS Codes of Ethics:
Considering all the ACS code of professional conduct (Gotterbarn 2013) judging
this incident becomes very easy in an effective manner. The ACS codes are listed below:
1. The primacy of public interest: according to this code the public interest is given more
preference than any type of personal, private and sectional interests. This also includes
the resolving of any types of issues in the favor of public interest. Work should be done
so as to safeguard the interests of the stakeholders. This also includes the matters which
are related to health safety and the environment (Bowern and Burmeister 2013).
2. Enhancement of the quality of life: This code includes the ways in which the
implementation of ICT could help in avoiding the negatives effects of ICT. This process
includes the work which is it to be done so as to enhance the life of the people. The
protection and promotion of health and safety of the peoples affected by the work.
Understanding of the perceptions of the peoples affected by the work and give due
regards to that peoples (Bowern and Burmeister 2013).
3. Honesty: this includes that there should not exist any breach in the trust of the customers
or the stakeholders. Many situations can arise during the professional career which can be
beneficial for an individual in some way but can be harmful in some other way for the
other peoples. This behavior of the individual is at all acceptable in the ACS code of
professional conduct. This codes indicates that a person should not accept any

7
TAX BUGS
provocations or any offer of bribery. Individual should distinguish between the
professional and the personal opinions and advice (Warren and Lucas, 2016).
4. Competence: this codes includes the ability of a person to perform a certain operation or
not. No one should hesitate in taking an expert advice whenever needed or ask from
someone who is more qualified than the one performing the work. One should always be
aware of the limitations and should do anything that the person is not aware of. Everyone
is not aware of all the ICT facets but they should be capable of recognizing their abilities
and if they need any expertise advice or not. No one should misprint their knowledge and
their abilities. Standards and legislation relevant to the work should be known properly.
Responsibility for the task should be accepted (Al-Saggaf, Burmeister and Weckert
2016).
5. Professional development: According to this work one should be aware of the new
technologies practices and the standards regarding the work. Everyone will expect that
the person doing the work will provide certain skills and the advice. For doing one should
keep his knowledge updated. Every colleague and the employees should be encouraged.
Actions should be taken so as to encourage the hard work and the knowledge. This can
help in increasing the effectiveness of the work and help in the advancement of the
capabilities and help in encouraging to take more responsibilities. One should upgrade
their knowledge and skills every time (Al-Saggaf and Burmeister 2013).
6. Professionalism: As ICT is a new technology which has advanced in the recent years.
Like other technologies this has not taken many years for its development and
evolvement of its standards and legislations. This code tries to improve the interests of
public on the ICT industry. It is the responsibility of the members to the society to

8
TAX BUGS
maintain professional standards so that the image of the industry gets enhanced and
improved. As all peoples are having the right to get dignity and respect so it is totally
unprofessional to have discrimination in an organization. One should be calm, objective
and informed before making any types of decision. Steps should be taken against those
who do not follow the codes. One should be proud of the profession and should also
promote professionalism in ICT industry (Weckert and Lucas 2013).
Analysis using the ACS code of professional conduct:
 The primacy of public interest: In the incident discussed above the customers are the
victims of the problem, as they had to pay huge penalty for wrong filing of income tax
returns. Due to this reason, the company must put aside their own personal interest and
look into the problems of the public. They must make decisions for helping its customers.
The company should also plan of making plans so as to help the customers in the future.
 The Enhancement of Quality of life: Like all technology, ICT also has negative sides.
ICT plays a very significant role in society and way of life. Ethical approach in the work
helps in recognizing and minimizing the adverse effects. In the incident, ICT played a
very important role (Eden, Jirotka and Stahl 2013). It has affected the lives of the users
adversely. Promotion and protection of health and safety of the affected user should be
done according to this code along with understanding and giving due regards to the
perceptions of the affected users. The company should attempt to increase the amount of
trust among the affected users.
 Professional Development: The president of the company should upgrade the
knowledge and skills to avoid situations of difficulty and should always be aware of the

9
TAX BUGS
profession as well as the relation with the public. Even after knowing the faults the
president decided to launch the product. This was a major fault of the company was
launch of the product even after the knowledge about the product. The president should
have looked into the matter of making the software bug free but in spite of that the
president performed that task and released the product. This not only effected the
professional development of the president but also made a barrier in the development of
the careers of the employees who were working on the software.
 Professionalism: According to this value, one should always stay calm, objective,
informed, and knowledgeable about the work before engaging in it. One should be co-
operative and advancing in ICT by communication with other peoples. No one should be
provoked to take actions, which involve in breach of the ACS codes. According to this
code the president should learn a lesson from the incident and encourage the employees
to put more effort in the development of the software.
Violation of the important ACS code relating to the incident:
The company should stop the further production of the software as the company
violated the most essential ACS code of professional conduct that is the primacy of
public interest. According to this code the aim and the first priority of the company
should be the benefit of the public. The company should aim at making decisions that are
in favor of the public. The wrong decision of the company made the customers suffer a
lot. The software made the customers face a lot of difficulties in their filing of the taxes
and made them pay huge penalty. The main aspect of a business that is the customer got
affected by the software. The decision of launch of the product was made even after
knowing the defects of the software. Initially the final step of the company should be

10
TAX BUGS
discontinuing or stop the further the production of the product. This step is necessary so
as to stop the facing of the difficulties by the customers. By doing so the most essential
ACS code of professional conduct won’t get affected. The company should also aim at
providing a better software which will not create any further difficulty to the customers.
The software should be bug free as the main reason for such a defect were the bugs.
Conclusion:
The above incident helps to conclude that every organization faces a state of ethical
dilemma. Following of certain ACS code of conducts and the DET is required to avoid state of
ethical dilemma. Organizations should make judgments considering the effects on the peoples
involved. The president of the company could easily have avoided the state of ethical dilemma if
he would have stopped the launch of the product after knowing the presence of bugs in the
program. The president just looked for the profit of the company without thinking about the
customers. The judgment of the company made the customers pay penalties. Just a single
decision affected everyone’s lives. The company just gave a disclaimer of responsibilities in case
of any error and lunched the product. If the company would have followed certain DET
techniques, then certainly some way would have come out to solve the issues. The company did
not follow the ACS code of professional conduct as well. When the problem occurred, it just
depleted the relation of trust between the customers and the company. The plan of launching the
next upgraded version also got shattered.

11
TAX BUGS
References:
Alrubaiee, L., 2012. Exploring the relationship between ethical sales behavior, relationship
quality, and customer loyalty. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 4(1), p.7.
Al-Saggaf, Y., Burmeister, O.K. and Weckert, J., 2016. Perceptions of incompetence in the ICT
workplace. ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society, 45(3), pp.11-17.
Borrás, S. and Edquist, C., 2013. The choice of innovation policy instruments. Technological
forecasting and social change, 80(8), pp.1513-1522.
Bowern, M. and Burmeister, O.K., 2013. 14. Business benefits from keeping codes of ethics up
to date. Professionalism in the Information and Communication Technology Industry, 3, p.295.
Burmeister, O.K., 2013. Achieving the goal of a global computing code of ethics through an
international-localisation hybrid. Ethical Space, 10(4), pp.25-32.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Eden, G., Jirotka, M. and Stahl, B., 2013, May. Responsible research and innovation: Critical
reflection into the potential social consequences of ICT. In Research Challenges in Information
Science (RCIS), 2013 IEEE Seventh International Conference on (pp. 1-12). IEEE.
Gotterbarn, D., 2013. 13. ICT governance and what to do about the toothless tiger (s):
Professional organisations and codes of ethics1. Professionalism in the Information and
Communication Technology Industry, 3, p.267.