The intergenerational causal effect of tax evasion: Evidence from the commuter tax allowance in Austria

Arbeitspapier

Does tax evasion run in the family? To answer this question, we study the case of the commuter tax allowance in Austria. This allowance is designed as a step function of the distance between the residence and the workplace, creating sharp discontinuities at each bracket threshold. It turns out that the distance to the next higher bracket is a strong determinant of compliance. The match of different administrative data sources allows us to observe actual compliance behavior with little error at the individual level across two generations. To identify the intergenerational causal effect in tax evasion behavior, we use the paternal distance to next higher bracket as an instrumental variable for paternal compliance. We find that paternal non-compliance increases children's non-compliance by about 23 percent.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Papers in Economics ; No. 2018-01

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Tax Evasion and Avoidance ; Relation of Economics to Social Values ; Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes ; Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion ; Household Saving; Personal Finance
• Subject: Tax evasion ; tax morale ; intergenerational correlation ; intergenerational causal effect

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Frimmel, Wolfgang ; Halla, Martin ; Paetzold, Jörg
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Salzburg, Department of Social Sciences and Economics
• (where): Salzburg
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/201669
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET