IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v95y2021ics2214804321001002.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

To file or not to file? Another dimension of tax compliance - the Eswatini Taxpayers’ survey

Author

Listed:
  • Santoro, Fabrizio

Abstract

Non-filing, the failure to submit a tax declaration, is a widespread phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa and produces detrimental fiscal effects, from impaired revenue mobilisation to inequality. Non-filing has been largely unexplored in the public finance literature, which focusses mosty on active filers. This paper sheds light on the determinants of non-filing, building on neoclassical and behavioural theories, and adds to the methodological discussion on how to measure tax compliance. Focusing on Eswatini, I combine survey data from one thousand entrepreneurs with their tax returns over 2013–2018. I show that economic deterrence, compliance costs and moral factors, such as intrinsic motivation and peer pressure, correlates with filing. I also study how results change when using a self-reported measure of compliance. In terms of policy, results show that the tax authority could improve filing rates by balancing a deterrent and a service-oriented approach, and also by triggering the role of social norms.

Suggested Citation

  • Santoro, Fabrizio, 2021. "To file or not to file? Another dimension of tax compliance - the Eswatini Taxpayers’ survey," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:95:y:2021:i:c:s2214804321001002
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2021.101760
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214804321001002
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socec.2021.101760?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brian Erard & Chih-Chin Ho, 1999. "Searching for Ghosts: Who Are the Nonfilers nd How Much Tax Do They Owe?," Carleton Economic Papers 99-11, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2001.
    2. Mascagni, Giulia & Santoro, Fabrizio & Mukama, Denis, 2019. "Teach to Comply? Evidence from a Taxpayer Education Programme in Rwanda," Working Papers 14411, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    3. Leandro Medina & Mr. Friedrich Schneider, 2018. "Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years?," IMF Working Papers 2018/017, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Fortin, Bernard & Lacroix, Guy & Villeval, Marie-Claire, 2007. "Tax evasion and social interactions," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(11-12), pages 2089-2112, December.
    5. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    6. Anne Brockmeyer & Spencer Smith & Marco Hernandez & Stewart Kettle, 2019. "Casting a Wider Tax Net: Experimental Evidence from Costa Rica," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 55-87, August.
    7. Charles A. Holt & Susan K. Laury, 2002. "Risk Aversion and Incentive Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1644-1655, December.
    8. Pelle Ahlerup & Thushyanthan Baskaran & Arne Bigsten, 2015. "Tax Innovations and Public Revenues in Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(6), pages 689-706, June.
    9. Bruno S. Frey & Lars P. Feld, 2002. "Deterrence and Morale in Taxation: An Empirical Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 760, CESifo.
    10. Slemrod, Joel & Blumenthal, Marsha & Christian, Charles, 2001. "Taxpayer response to an increased probability of audit: evidence from a controlled experiment in Minnesota," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(3), pages 455-483, March.
    11. Elffers, Henk & Weigel, Russell H. & Hessing, Dick J., 1987. "The consequences of different strategies for measuring tax evasion behavior," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 311-337, September.
    12. Erard, Brian & Ho, Chih-Chin, 2001. "Searching for ghosts: who are the nonfilers and how much tax do they owe?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 25-50, July.
    13. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2013. "Teaching the Tax Code: Earnings Responses to an Experiment with EITC Recipients," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, January.
    14. Facundo Alvaredo & Anthony B Atkinson, 2010. "Colonial Rule, Apartheid and Natural Resources: Top Incomes in South Africa 1903-2005," OxCarre Working Papers 046, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford.
    15. Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge & Schulz-Herzenberg, Collette & Sjursen, Ingrid Hoem, 2012. "Peoples’ Views of Taxation in Africa: a Review of Research of Determinants of Tax Compliance," Working Papers 2306, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    16. Myles, Gareth D. & Naylor, Robin A., 1996. "A model of tax evasion with group conformity and social customs," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 49-66, April.
    17. Giulia Mascagni, 2018. "From The Lab To The Field: A Review Of Tax Experiments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 273-301, April.
    18. Moore, Mick, 2020. "What is Wrong with African Tax Administration?," Working Papers 15661, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    19. Dina Pomeranz, 2015. "No Taxation without Information: Deterrence and Self-Enforcement in the Value Added Tax," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(8), pages 2539-2569, August.
    20. Kettle,Stewart & Hernandez,Marco & Ruda,Simon & Sanders,Michael, 2016. "Behavioral interventions in tax compliance : evidence from Guatemala," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7690, The World Bank.
    21. Odd-Helge Fjeldstad & Collette Schulz-Herzenberg & Ingrid Hoem Sjursen, 2012. "Peoples' views of taxation in Africa: A review of research on determinants of tax compliance," CMI Working Papers 7, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    22. Ligomeka, Waziona, 2019. "Assessing the Performance of African Tax Administrations: A Malawian Puzzle," Working Papers 14699, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    23. Abebe Shimeles & Daniel Zerfu Gurara & Firew Woldeyes, 2017. "Taxman's Dilemma: Coercion or Persuasion? Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Ethiopia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 420-424, May.
    24. Roel Dom, 2019. "Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa: Silver Bullet or White Elephant," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(7), pages 1418-1435, July.
    25. Prichard,Wilson & Custers,Anna Louise & Dom,Roel & Davenport,Stephen R. & Roscitt,Michael Anthony, 2019. "Innovations in Tax Compliance : Conceptual Framework," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9032, The World Bank.
    26. Meiselman, Ben S., 2018. "Ghostbusting in Detroit: Evidence on nonfilers from a controlled field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 180-193.
    27. Henrik Jacobsen Kleven & Martin B. Knudsen & Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Søren Pedersen & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Unwilling or Unable to Cheat? Evidence From a Tax Audit Experiment in Denmark," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(3), pages 651-692, May.
    28. Allingham, Michael G. & Sandmo, Agnar, 1972. "Income tax evasion: a theoretical analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3-4), pages 323-338, November.
    29. Moore, Mick, 2020. "What is Wrong with African Tax Administration?," Working Papers 15831, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    30. Atkinson, Anthony B & Alvaredo, Facundo, 2010. "Colonial Rule, Apartheid and Natural Resources: Top Incomes in South Africa, 1903-2007," CEPR Discussion Papers 8155, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    31. Santoro, Fabrizio & Mdluli, Winnie, 2019. "Nil-Filing in Eswatini: Should the Revenue Administration be Concerned?," Working Papers 14478, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Apeti, Ablam Estel & Edoh, Eyah Denise, 2023. "Tax revenue and mobile money in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    2. Fabrizio Santoro & Razan Amine & Tanele Magongo, 2024. "Encouraging digital tax tools as a response to Covid: evidence from Eswatini," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(1), pages 95-135, February.
    3. Marina Dodlova & Krisztina Kis-Katos & Anna Kochanova & Olivia Wirth, 2023. "Mobile technologies and firm formalization: Evidence from Uganda," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-99, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Okunogbe,Oyebola Motunrayo & Santoro,Fabrizio, 2022. "Increasing Tax Collection in African Countries : The Role of Information Technology," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10182, The World Bank.
    5. Vanina Adoriana Trifan & Silviu Gabriel Szentesi & Lavinia Denisia Cuc & Mioara Florina Pantea, 2023. "Assessing Tax Compliance Behavior Among Romanian Taxpayers: An Empirical Case Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mascagni, Giulia & Santoro, Fabrizio & Mukama, Denis & Karangwa, John & Hakizimana, Napthal, 2022. "Active Ghosts: Nil-filing in Rwanda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    2. James Alm, 2019. "What Motivates Tax Compliance?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 353-388, April.
    3. 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.
    4. Eko Arief Yogama & Daniel J. Gray & Matthew D. Rablen, 2023. "Nudging for Prompt Tax Penalty Payment: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia," CESifo Working Paper Series 10836, CESifo.
    5. Giulia Mascagni, 2018. "From The Lab To The Field: A Review Of Tax Experiments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 273-301, April.
    6. Castro, Lucio & Scartascini, Carlos, 2015. "Tax compliance and enforcement in the pampas evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 65-82.
    7. Dong, Sarah Xue & Sinning, Mathias, 2022. "Trying to Make a Good First Impression: A Natural Field Experiment to Engage New Entrants to the Tax System," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    8. Banerjee, Ritwik & Boly, Amadou & Gillanders, Robert, 2022. "Anti-tax evasion, anti-corruption and public good provision: An experimental analysis of policy spillovers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 179-194.
    9. Antinyan, Armenak & Asatryan, Zareh, 2019. "Nudging for tax compliance: A meta-analysis," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-055, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Meiselman, Ben S., 2018. "Ghostbusting in Detroit: Evidence on nonfilers from a controlled field experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 180-193.
    11. Kamm, Aaron & Koch, Christian & Nikiforakis, Nikos, 2021. "The ghost of institutions past: History as an obstacle to fighting tax evasion?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    12. James Alm & Matthias Kasper, 2020. "Laboratory Experiments," Working Papers 2008, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    13. James Alm & Lilith Burgstaller & Arrita Domi & Amanda März & Matthias Kasper, 2023. "Nudges, Boosts, and Sludge: Using New Behavioral Approaches to Improve Tax Compliance," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-22, September.
    14. Erlend E. Bø & Joel Slemrod & Thor O. Thoresen, 2015. "Taxes on the Internet: Deterrence Effects of Public Disclosure," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(1), pages 36-62, February.
    15. James Alm & Kim M. Bloomquist & Michael McKee, 2017. "When You Know Your Neighbour Pays Taxes: Information, Peer Effects and Tax Compliance," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 38, pages 587-613, December.
    16. Galbiati, Roberto & Zanella, Giulio, 2012. "The tax evasion social multiplier: Evidence from Italy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(5), pages 485-494.
    17. Lopez-Luzuriaga, Andrea & Scartascini, Carlos, 2019. "Compliance spillovers across taxes: The role of penalties and detection," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 518-534.
    18. Alm, James & Shimshack, Jay, 2014. "Environmental Enforcement and Compliance: Lessons from Pollution, Safety, and Tax Settings," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 10(4), pages 209-274, December.
    19. Hebous, Shafik & Jia, Zhiyang & Løyland, Knut & Thoresen, Thor O. & Øvrum, Arnstein, 2023. "Do Audits Improve Future Tax Compliance in the Absence of Penalties? Evidence from Random Audits in Norway," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 305-326.
    20. James Alm & Jeremy Clark & Kara Leibel, 2011. "Socio-economic Diversity, Social Capital, and Tax Filing Compliance in the United States," Working Papers in Economics 11/35, University of Canterbury, Department of Economics and Finance.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:95:y:2021:i:c:s2214804321001002. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620175 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.