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Voting over taxes: the case of tax evasion

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  • Christian Traxler

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Abstract

This paper studies majority voting on taxes when tax evasion is possible. We characterize the voting equilibrium where the agent with median taxed income is pivotal. Since the ranking of true incomes does not necessarily correspond to the ranking of taxed incomes, the decisive voter can differ from the median income receiver. In this case, we find unconventional patterns of redistribution, e.g. from the middle class to the poor and the rich. Furthermore, we show that majority voting can lead to an inefficiently low level of taxation – despite a right-skewed income distribution. Hence, the classical over-provision result might turn around, once tax evasion is taken into account.

(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11127-009-9411-5
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Springer in its journal Public Choice.

Volume (Year): 140 (2009)
Issue (Month): 1 (July)
Pages: 43-58

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Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:140:y:2009:i:1:p:43-58

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Web page: http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=100332

Related research

Keywords: Majority voting; Tax evasion; Redistribution; H26; D72;

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References

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  1. Roberts, Kevin W. S., 1977. "Voting over income tax schedules," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 329-340, December.
  2. Tyran, Jean-Robert & Sausgruber, Rupert, 2006. "A little fairness may induce a lot of redistribution in democracy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 469-485, February.
  3. Meltzer, Allan H & Richard, Scott F, 1981. "A Rational Theory of the Size of Government," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 914-27, October.
  4. Jonathan S. Feinstein, 1991. "An Econometric Analysis of Income Tax Evasion and its Detection," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 22(1), pages 14-35, Spring.
  5. Joel Slemrod, 2001. "A General Model of the Behavioral Response to Taxation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 119-128, March.
  6. Rudiger Ahrend & Carlos Winograd, 2006. "The political economy of mass privatisation and imperfect taxation: Winners and loosers," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 201-224, January.
  7. Sven Stö & Christian Traxler, 2005. "Tax Evasion and Auditing in a Federal Economy," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 515-531, August.
  8. Roine, Jesper, 2003. "Voting over tax schedules in the presence of tax avoidance," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 529, Stockholm School of Economics.
  9. Cremer, Helmuth & Gahvari, Firouz, 1993. "Tax evasion and optimal commodity taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 261-275, February.
  10. Kopczuk, Wojciech, 2001. "Redistribution when avoidance behavior is heterogeneous," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 51-71, July.
  11. 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.
  12. Joel Slemrod, 2007. "Cheating Ourselves: The Economics of Tax Evasion," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 25-48, Winter.
  13. Bruno S. Frey & Lars P. Feld, 2002. "Deterrence and Morale in Taxation: An Empirical Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 760, CESifo Group Munich.
  14. Gouveia, Miguel, 1997. " Majority Rule and the Public Provision of a Private Good," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 93(3-4), pages 221-44, December.
  15. Cowell, F A, 1990. "Tax Sheltering and the Cost of Evasion," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(1), pages 231-43, January.
  16. Juin-jen Chang & Ching-chong Lai, 2004. "Collaborative tax evasion and social norms: why deterrence does not work," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(2), pages 344-368, April.
  17. Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1974. "Income tax evasion: A theoretical analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(2), pages 201-202, May.
  18. Epple, Dennis & Romano, Richard E., 1996. "Ends against the middle: Determining public service provision when there are private alternatives," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3), pages 297-325, November.
  19. Klarita G�rxhani, 2004. "The Informal Sector in Developed and Less Developed Countries: A Literature Survey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 120(3_4), pages 267-300, 09.
  20. Carlo V Fiorio & Francesco D'Amuri, 2005. "Workers' Tax Evasion in Italy," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 64(2-3), pages 247-270, November.
  21. Tedds, Lindsay, 2007. "Estimating the Income Reporting Function for the Self-Employed," MPRA Paper 4212, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Besfamille, Martin & De Donder, Philippe & Lozachmeur, Jean-Marie, 2009. "The Political Economy of the (Weak) Enforcement of Sales Tax," CEPR Discussion Papers 7108, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  2. Salvatore Barbaro & Jens Suedekum, 2009. "Voting on income tax exemptions," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 138(1), pages 239-253, January.
  3. Adam, Antonis & Kammas, Pantelis, 2012. "(Tax evasion) power to the people: does "early democratization" increase the size of the informal sector?," MPRA Paper 43343, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  4. Loukas Balafoutas, 2011. "How much income redistribution? An explanation based on vote-buying and corruption," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 185-203, January.
  5. François Boldron & Claire Borsenberger & Helmuth Cremer & Philippe De Donder & Denis Joram & Bernard Roy, 2011. "Environmental Cost and Universal Service Obligations in the Postal Sector," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(3), pages 5.
  6. Rainald Borck, 2003. "Voting on Redistribution with Tax Evasion," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 329, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
  7. Goerke, Laszlo, 2011. "The optimal structure of commodity taxation in a monopoly with tax avoidance or evasion," University of Tuebingen Working Papers in Economics and Finance 8, University of Tuebingen, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences.

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