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The role of information in tax compliance: Evidence from a natural field experiment

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  • Kosonen, Tuomas
  • Ropponen, Olli

Abstract

This paper studies how much firms make unintentional mistakes in their tax filing, and to what extent this can be affected by providing information about the tax code. We utilize a novel natural field experiment design, where we candidly provide information to firms reporting their VAT within a survey. The results indicate that firms make unintentional mistakes in their tax reporting and that informing about tax rules reduces these mistakes significantly.

Suggested Citation

  • Kosonen, Tuomas & Ropponen, Olli, 2015. "The role of information in tax compliance: Evidence from a natural field experiment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 18-21.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:129:y:2015:i:c:p:18-21
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2015.01.026
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    2. Dina Pomeranz & José Vila-Belda, 2019. "Taking State-Capacity Research to the Field: Insights from Collaborations with Tax Authorities," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 755-781, August.
    3. Philipp Doerrenberg & Jan Schmitz, 2017. "Tax compliance and information provision. A field experiment with small firms," Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE), vol. 1(1), pages 47-54, February.
    4. Michael Chirico & Robert Inman & Charles Loeffler & John MacDonald & Holger Sieg, 2016. "Deterring Delinquency: A Field Experiment in Improving Tax Compliance Behavior," Natural Field Experiments 00543, The Field Experiments Website.
    5. Miguel Almunia & Jarkko Harju & Kaisa Kotakorpi & Janne Tukiainen & Jouko Verho, 2019. "Expanding access to administrative data: the case of tax authorities in Finland and the UK," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(3), pages 661-676, June.
    6. Bellon, Matthieu & Dabla-Norris, Era & Khalid, Salma & Lima, Frederico, 2022. "Digitalization to improve tax compliance: Evidence from VAT e-Invoicing in Peru," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    7. Kodjo Adandohoin & Jean-Francois Brun, 2020. "Are incomes and property taxes effective instruments for tax transition?," CERDI Working papers hal-03053683, HAL.
    8. Berkel, Hanna & Estmann, Christian & Rand, John, 2022. "Local governance quality and law compliance: The case of Mozambican firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    9. Marius Surugiu & Raluca Mazilescu & Camelia Surugiu, 2020. "Tax compliance: cointegration analysis in romanian context," Manager Journal, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 32(1), pages 116-122, December.
    10. Kodjo Adandohoin & Jean-Francois Brun, 2021. "The Role of Income and Property Taxes in Tax Transition and the Mediating Effect of Financial Development," Post-Print hal-03470540, HAL.
    11. Kodjo Adandohoin & Jean-Francois Brun, 2020. "Are incomes and property taxes effective instruments for tax transition?," Working Papers hal-03053683, HAL.
    12. Kosonen, Tuomas & Ropponen, Olli, 2015. "The role of information in tax compliance: Evidence from a natural field experiment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 18-21.
    13. Youngrok Kim & Hongyu Wan & Minjo Kang, 2022. "Card or cash? Evidence regarding consumers' cooperative value‐added tax compliance," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 337-359, September.
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    15. Kay Blaufus & Jakob Reineke & Ilko Trenn, 2023. "Perceived tax audit aggressiveness, tax control frameworks and tax planning: an empirical analysis," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 509-557, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax compliance; Information; Natural field experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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