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Tax compliance depends on voice of taxpayers

Author

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  • Casal, Sandro
  • Kogler, Christoph
  • Mittone, Luigi
  • Kirchler, Erich

Abstract

Reducing the social distance between taxpayers and tax authorities boosts taxpayers’ acceptance of tax load and tax compliance. In the present experiment participants had the opportunity to pay their tax due either as one single compliance decision or as separate compliance decisions for each type of requested contribution (coined voice on contributions). In addition, contributions were either distributed according to a fixed scheme exogenously chosen, or participants had the possibility to change the distribution pattern (coined voice on distribution). Furthermore information about participants’ contributions was either clearly related to the tax context or related to government public expenditures (coined context). Besides analyzing the effect of voice and context on compliance, order of tax payments was controlled for in the analyses. Results show that having voice on tax contributions and on tax distribution leads to higher compliance. Moreover, compliance was higher in the context avoiding tax framing.

Suggested Citation

  • Casal, Sandro & Kogler, Christoph & Mittone, Luigi & Kirchler, Erich, 2016. "Tax compliance depends on voice of taxpayers," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 141-150.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joepsy:v:56:y:2016:i:c:p:141-150
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2016.06.005
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    Cited by:

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    4. Fatas, Enrique & Nosenzo, Daniele & Sefton, Martin & Zizzo, Daniel John, 2021. "A self-funding reward mechanism for tax compliance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Lubomir Cingl & Tomas Lichard & Tomas Miklanek, 2022. "Mist Over a Meadow: Tax Designation Effects on Compliance," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp725, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    6. Alice Guerra & Brooke Harrington, 2023. "Regional variation in tax compliance and the role of culture," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 139-152, April.
    7. 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.
    8. Yamen, Ahmed & Allam, Amir & Bani-Mustafa, Ahmed & Uyar, Ali, 2018. "Impact of institutional environment quality on tax evasion: A comparative investigation of old versus new EU members," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 17-29.
    9. James Alm, 2019. "What Motivates Tax Compliance?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 353-388, April.
    10. Aktaş Güzel, Sonnur & Özer, Gökhan & Özcan, Murat, 2019. "The effect of the variables of tax justice perception and trust in government on tax compliance: The case of Turkey," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 80-86.
    11. James Alm & Antoine Malézieux, 2021. "40 years of tax evasion games: a meta-analysis," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 24(3), pages 699-750, September.
    12. 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.
    13. James Alm & Matthias Kasper, 2020. "Laboratory Experiments," Working Papers 2008, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    14. Diana Falsetta & Jennifer K. Schafer & George T. Tsakumis, 2024. "How Government Spending Impacts Tax Compliance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(2), pages 513-530, March.
    15. Kazi Abdul, Mannan & Khandaker Mursheda, Farhana, 2023. "The new fiscal sociology: a study of universal self-Assessment taxpayers in Bangladesh," MPRA Paper 117151, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2023.
    16. Moerenhout, Tom S.H. & Sharma, Shruti & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2019. "Commercial and industrial consumers’ perspectives on electricity pricing reform: Evidence from India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 162-171.
    17. Rui Bruno Santos, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis between Communication and Tax Compliance," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(6), pages 321-334, June.
    18. Andrey L. Anisimov, 2018. "Economic Model of Tax Authorities’ Costs Optimisation and Tax Revenue Receipt," Journal of New Economy, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 19(5), pages 59-71, October.
    19. Klaser, Klaudijo & Mittone, Luigi, 2022. "Can the rawlsian veil of ignorance foster tax compliance? Evidence from a laboratory experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 99-113.
    20. Andrea Angeli & Patrizia Lattarulo & Eugenio Palmieri & Maria Grazia Pazienza, 2023. "Tax evasion and tax amnesties in regional taxation," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(1), pages 343-369, April.
    21. Frecknall-Hughes, Jane & Gangl, Katharina & Hofmann, Eva & Hartl, Barbara & Kirchler, Erich, 2023. "The influence of tax authorities on the employment of tax practitioners: Empirical evidence from a survey and interview study," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    22. Casal, Sandro & Faillo, Marco & Mittone, Luigi, 2022. "I want to pay! - Identifying the Unconditional Tax Propensity (UTP)," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 103-114.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax compliance; Tax evasion; Tax distribution; Voice; Procedural fairness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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