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Higher taxes, more evasion? Evidence from border differentials in TV license fees

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  • Berger, Melissa
  • Fellner-Röhling, Gerlinde
  • Sausgruber, Rupert
  • Traxler, Christian

Abstract

This paper studies the evasion of TV license fees in Austria. We exploit border differentials to identify the effect of fees on evasion. Comparing municipalities at the low- and high-fee side of state borders reveals that higher fees trigger significantly more evasion. The central estimate from a spatial regression discontinuity design indicates that a one percent increase in fees raises the evasion rate by 0.3 percentage points. The positive effect of fees on evasion is confirmed in different parametric and non-parametric approaches and survives several robustness checks.

Suggested Citation

  • Berger, Melissa & Fellner-Röhling, Gerlinde & Sausgruber, Rupert & Traxler, Christian, 2015. "Higher taxes, more evasion? Evidence from border differentials in TV license fees," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-008, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:15008
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    6. Berger, Melissa & Fellner-Röhling, Gerlinde & Sausgruber, Rupert & Traxler, Christian, 2016. "Higher taxes, more evasion? Evidence from border differentials in TV license fees," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 74-86.
    7. Shaun Larcom & Luca A. Panzone & Timothy Swanson, 2017. "Follow-the-leader? Measuring the internalisation of law," CIES Research Paper series 50-2017, Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute.
    8. Mauricio Villamizar‐Villegas & Freddy A. Pinzon‐Puerto & Maria Alejandra Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2022. "A comprehensive history of regression discontinuity designs: An empirical survey of the last 60 years," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 1130-1178, September.
    9. Sebastian Castillo, 2022. "Tax Policy Design in a Hierarchical Model with Occupational Decisions," Working Papers 2, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
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    12. Paolo Buonanno & Sergio Galletta & Marcello Puca, 2023. "The role of civic capital on vaccination," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 993-999, May.
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    14. Stoll, Julius, 2022. "The cost of honesty: Field evidence☆," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    15. Mohammad Nurunnabi, 2018. "Tax evasion and religiosity in the Muslim world: the significance of Shariah regulation," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 371-394, January.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Evasion; TV License Fees; Border Tax Differentials; Regression Discontinuity Design;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H27 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Other Sources of Revenue

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