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The effects of introducing withholding and third-party reporting on tax collections: Evidence from the U.S. state personal income tax

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  • Bagchi, Sutirtha
  • Dušek, Libor

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of introducing withholding of the personal income tax by state governments in the U.S. We exploit the staggered adoption of withholding by individual states over the period 1948–1987 to construct event study estimates. We obtain a robust finding: Introducing withholding led to an immediate and permanent increase in income tax revenues by about 29 percent, holding tax rates constant. The result is consistent with the crucial role of withholding and third-party reporting in improving tax compliance. We consider several alternative explanations such as changes to the tax base and increases in enforcement activity but these explanations lack support. There is some evidence that non-filing substantially decreased following the introduction of withholding.

Suggested Citation

  • Bagchi, Sutirtha & Dušek, Libor, 2021. "The effects of introducing withholding and third-party reporting on tax collections: Evidence from the U.S. state personal income tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:204:y:2021:i:c:s0047272721001730
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2021.104537
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    Cited by:

    1. Niels Johannesen & Daniel Reck & Max Risch & Joel Slemrod & John Guyton & Patrick Langetieg, 2023. "The Offshore World According to FATCA: New Evidence on the Foreign Wealth of US Households," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 38, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Traviss Cassidy & Mark Dincecco & Ugo Antonio Troiano, 2024. "The Introduction of the Income Tax, Fiscal Capacity, and Migration: Evidence from US States," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 16(1), pages 359-393, February.
    3. Dario Tortarolo & Pablo Garriga, 2022. "Firms as tax collectors," IFS Working Papers W22/44, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    4. Sutirtha Bagchi, 2022. "The Effects of Introducing Withholding on Tax Compliance: Evidence from Pennsylvania’s Local Earned Income Tax," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 58, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
    5. Cingl, Lubomír & Lichard, Tomáš & Miklánek, Tomáš, 2023. "Tax designation effects on compliance: An online experiment with taxpayers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 615-633.
    6. Bagchi, Sutirtha, 2022. "Withholding matters: The impact of Act 32 on compliance with the earned income tax," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax evasion; Third-party reporting; Withholding; Tax base changes; Event study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • N42 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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