IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/tpr/restat/v103y2021i4p636-651.html

Inferring Tax Compliance from Pass-Through: Evidence from Airbnb Tax Enforcement Agreements

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew J. Bibler

    (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

  • Keith F. Teltser

    (Georgia State University)

  • Mark J. Tremblay

    (Miami University)

Abstract

Tax enforcement is especially costly when market participants are difficult to observe. The benefits of enforcement depend crucially on pre-enforcement compliance. We derive an upper bound on pre-enforcement compliance from the pass-through of newly enforced taxes. Using data on Airbnb listings and the platform's voluntary collection agreements, we find that taxes are paid on, at most, 24% of Airbnb transactions prior to enforcement. We also find that demand for Airbnb listings is inelastic, driving three key insights: the tax burden falls disproportionately on renters, the excess burden is small, and tax enforcement is relatively ineffective at reducing local Airbnb activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew J. Bibler & Keith F. Teltser & Mark J. Tremblay, 2021. "Inferring Tax Compliance from Pass-Through: Evidence from Airbnb Tax Enforcement Agreements," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(4), pages 636-651, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:103:y:2021:i:4:p:636-651
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00910
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00910
    Download Restriction: Access to PDF is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1162/rest_a_00910?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 look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. David Boto-García & Veronica Leoni, 2022. "The hedonic value of coastal amenities in peer-to-peer markets," DEA Working Papers 94, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Departament d'Economía Aplicada.
    2. Asatryan, Zareh & Gomtsyan, David, 2020. "The incidence of VAT evasion," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-027, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. David Boto-García & Veronica Leoni, 2023. "The Economic Value of Coastal Amenities: Evidence from Beach Capitalization Effects in Peer-to-Peer Markets," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(2), pages 529-557, February.
    4. Agrawal, David R. & Shybalkina, Iuliia, 2023. "Online shopping can redistribute local tax revenue from urban to rural America," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    5. Mohammed Mardan & Mark J. Tremblay, 2022. "Network Effects: Betwixt and Between," CESifo Working Paper Series 10082, CESifo.
    6. Ron Bekkerman & Maxime C. Cohen & Edward Kung & John Maiden & Davide Proserpio, 2023. "The Effect of Short-Term Rentals on Residential Investment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(4), pages 819-834, July.
    7. David Dann & Raphael Müller & Ann-Catherin Werner & Timm Teubner & Alexander Mädche & Christoph Spengel, 2022. "How do tax compliance labels impact sharing platform consumers? An empirical study on the interplay of trust, moral, and intention to book," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 409-439, September.
    8. Chen, Shi & Liu, Zhongyi & Cai, Wanlin, 2025. "Digital transformation and tax compliance in Chinese industrial sector," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    9. Francis Bloch & Gabrielle Demange, 2021. "Profit-splitting rules and the taxation of multinational digital platforms," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(4), pages 855-889, August.
    10. Duncan, Denvil & Ross, Justin, 2025. "The effect of Airbnb on housing prices: Evidence from the 2017 solar eclipse," ZEW Discussion Papers 25-027, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    11. Buettner, Thiess & Hechtner, Frank & Madzharova, Boryana, 2025. "Taxes and gender equality: The incidence of the ‘tampon tax’," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    12. Bibler, Andrew & Grigolon, Laura & Teltser, Keith & Tremblay, Mark, 2024. "Identifying Tax Compliance from Changes in Enforcement: Theory and Empirics," CEPR Discussion Papers 18805, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. David R. Agrawal & Iuliia Shybalkina, 2024. "Remittance Rules and the Distribution of Local Tax Revenue: Evidence after Wayfair," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 77(4), pages 813-831.
    14. Garz, Marcel & Schneider, Andrea, 2023. "Data sharing and tax enforcement: Evidence from short-term rentals in Denmark," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    15. David R. Agrawal, 2021. "The Internet as a Tax Haven?," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 1-35, November.
    16. David R. Agrawal & William F. Fox, 2021. "Taxing Goods and Services in a Digital Era," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(1), pages 257-301.
    17. Dolnicar, Sara, 2019. "A review of research into paid online peer-to-peer accommodation," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 248-264.
    18. Annabelle Doerr & Sarah Necker, 2021. "Collaborative Tax Evasion in the Provision of Services to Consumers: A Field Experiment," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 185-216, November.
    19. Kevin Ducbao Tran & Leonardo Madio & Michelangelo Rossi & Mark J. Tremblay, 2024. "Transparency of Add-On Fees on Peer-to-Peer Platforms: Evidence from Airbnb," CESifo Working Paper Series 11574, CESifo.
    20. Garz, Marcel & Schneider, Andrea, 2023. "Taxation of short-term rentals: Evidence from the introduction of the “Airbnb tax” in Norway," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    21. Lassmann, Andrea & Liberini, Federica & Russo, Antonio & Cuevas, Ángel & Cuevas, Rubén, 2025. "Global spillovers of taxation in the online advertising market. Theory and evidence from facebook," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    22. Fox, William F. & Hargaden, Enda Patrick & Luna, LeAnn, 2022. "Statutory incidence and sales tax compliance: Evidence from Wayfair," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    23. Martin Falk & Miriam Scaglione, 2024. "Effects of regulations on the Airbnb market in Geneva," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(3), pages 615-632, May.
    24. Chengrui Xiao & Bo Zhou, 2023. "Property taxes and rental housing: Evidence from China," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 51(4), pages 931-958, July.
    25. Wei Cui & Nigar Hashimzade, 2019. "The Digital Services Tax as a Tax on Location-Specific Rent," CESifo Working Paper Series 7737, CESifo.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:tpr:restat:v:103:y:2021:i:4:p:636-651. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: The MIT Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://direct.mit.edu/journals .

    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.