Arbeitspapier

The effect of awareness and incentives on tax evasion

We observe a specific type of tax evasion among business owners in Swedish administrative panel data, after the tax authority has approved all tax returns. For the period 2006-2009, approximately 5% of tax returns overstate a claimed dividend allowance. Tax awareness decreases and complexity increases the likelihood of misreporting. Some observed misreporting could be accidental, while some misreporting is deliberate tax evasion. We identify a positive and significant effect of tax rates on tax evasion, by exploiting a large kink in the tax schedule. The majority of misreporting cases remains undetected. Self-correction is the dominant type of detection.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: arqus Discussion Paper ; No. 147

Classification
Wirtschaft
Tax Evasion and Avoidance
Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
Household Saving; Personal Finance
Subject
tax evasion
tax compliance
tax enforcement
tax awareness
detection

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Alstadsæter, Annette
Jacob, Martin
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre (arqus)
(where)
Berlin
(when)
2013

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Alstadsæter, Annette
  • Jacob, Martin
  • Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre (arqus)

Time of origin

  • 2013

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