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The underreporting of income by self-employed workers in Spain

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  • Diego Martinez-Lopez

Abstract

This paper offers estimates of the underreporting of income by self-employed workers using the Spanish household surveys over the period 2006–2009. We replicate the well-known approach by Pissarides and Weber (J Public Econ 39(1):17–32, 1989 ) but extending its interpretation for admitting also the concealment of income by salary workers. Our results show that the reported income by self-employed has to be increased by about 25 % to obtain the level of income which would equal the level of underreporting by employees. Our estimates are robust to changes in specification, endogeneity and non-linearities. Copyright The Author(s) 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Diego Martinez-Lopez, 2013. "The underreporting of income by self-employed workers in Spain," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 353-371, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:series:v:4:y:2013:i:4:p:353-371
    DOI: 10.1007/s13209-012-0093-8
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    Cited by:

    1. Tomas Lichard & Jan Hanousek & Randall K. Filer, 2012. "Measuring the Shadow Economy: Endogenous Switching Regression with Unobserved Separation," Economics Working Paper Archive at Hunter College 438, Hunter College Department of Economics.
    2. Odd E Nygård & Joel Slemrod & Thor O Thoresen, 2019. "Distributional Implications of Joint Tax Evasion," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(620), pages 1894-1923.
    3. Ana Cinta G Cabral & Christos Kotsogiannis & Gareth Myles, 2019. "Self-Employment Income Gap in Great Britain: How Much and Who?," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo, vol. 65(1), pages 84-107.
    4. Thompson, Kristina & Ophem, Johan van & Wagemakers, Annemarie, 2019. "Studying the impact of the Eurozone’s Great Recession on health: Methodological choices and challenges," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 162-184.
    5. Per Engström & Johannes Hagen & Edvard Johansson, 2023. "Estimating tax noncompliance among the self-employed—evidence from pleasure boat registers," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 1747-1771, December.
    6. Engström, Per & Hagen, Johannes, 2017. "Income underreporting among the self-employed: A permanent income approach," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 92-109.
    7. Niizeki, Takeshi & Hamaaki, Junya, 2023. "Do the self-employed underreport their income? Evidence from Japanese panel data," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    8. Hai Anh La & Duc Anh Dang, 2018. "Income under-reporting and tax evasion: How they impact inequality in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-148, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Paulus, Alari, 2015. "Income underreporting based on income-expenditure gaps: survey vs tax records," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-15, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    10. Merike Kukk & Alari Paulus & Karsten Staehr, 2020. "Cheating in Europe: underreporting of self-employment income in comparative perspective," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(2), pages 363-390, April.
    11. Félix Domínguez Barrero & Julio López Laborda & Fernando Rodrigo Sauco, 2014. ""El hueco que deja el Diablo": Una estimación del fraude en el IRPF con microdatos tributarios," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2014-01, FEDEA.
    12. Hai Anh La & Duc Anh Dang, 2018. "Income under-reporting and tax evasion: How they impact inequality in Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 148, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Tomáš Lichard & Jan Hanousek & Randall K. Filer, 2021. "Hidden in plain sight: using household data to measure the shadow economy," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1449-1476, March.
    14. Pablo Duarte, 2017. "The relationship between GDP and the size of the informal economy: empirical evidence for Spain," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1409-1421, June.
    15. Per Engström & Johannes Hagen & Edvard Johansson, 2021. "Estimating Tax Noncompliance among the Self-Employed – Evidence from Pleasure Boat Registers," Discussion Papers 144, Aboa Centre for Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Underreporting; Household surveys; Food consumption; Tax evasion; D12; H26; O17;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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