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Evidence on Unclaimed Charitable Contributions from the Introduction of Third-Party Information Reporting in Denmark

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Gillitzer

    (University of Michigan)

  • Peer Ebbesen Skov

    (University of Copenhagen)

Abstract

The introduction of information reporting and pre-population of charitable tax deductions in Denmark in 2008 coincided with a doubling in the number of tax deductions claimed, and a 15 percent rise in the value of claims. We attribute this change to incomplete claiming of eliglbe charitable tax deductions under the prior self-reporting regime: a pre-form randomized audit shows a neglible amount of chaitable overreporting, and we present evidence that there was no change in giving behavior aorund the time of the reform. We estimate that pre-year average amount of forgone tax benefits to be small, but find that many tax-payers repeatedly failed to claim eligble charitable tax deductions under the self-reporting regime. We provide evidence on information frictions from taxpayer behavior due to a notched subsidy scheme.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Gillitzer & Peer Ebbesen Skov, 2013. "Evidence on Unclaimed Charitable Contributions from the Introduction of Third-Party Information Reporting in Denmark," EPRU Working Paper Series 2013-04, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:kud:epruwp:13-04
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    Cited by:

    1. Kotakorpi Kaisa & Laamanen Jani-Petri, 2016. "Prefilled Income Tax Returns and Tax Compliance: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Working Papers 1604, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.
    2. Paul Carrillo & Dina Pomeranz & Monica Singhal, 2017. "Dodging the Taxman: Firm Misreporting and Limits to Tax Enforcement," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 144-164, April.
    3. Tazhitdinova, Alisa, 2015. "Reducing Evasion Through Self-Reporting: Theory and Evidence from Charitable Contributions," MPRA Paper 81612, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2017.
    4. Giulia Mascagni, 2018. "From The Lab To The Field: A Review Of Tax Experiments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 273-301, April.
    5. Benjamin Bittschi & Sarah Borgloh & Berthold U. Wigger, 2020. "Philanthropy in a Secular Society," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 176(4), pages 640-664.

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