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Tax compliance costs: A review of cost burdens and cost structures

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  • Eichfelder, Sebastian
  • Vaillancourt, François

Abstract

Our paper provides a comprehensive report of empirical research on tax compliance costs. Compared to previous reviews, our focus is on average costs for sub-groups (individual taxpayers, small businesses, large businesses) and the composition of the cost burden with regards to different cost components (in-house time effort, external adviser costs, other monetary expenses), different taxes (e.g. income tax, value added tax) and different activities like tax accounting and tax planning. In addition, we give a short review of the most important compliance cost drivers and discuss the underlying causes of tax complexity and compliance costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Eichfelder, Sebastian & Vaillancourt, François, 2014. "Tax compliance costs: A review of cost burdens and cost structures," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 178, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:arqudp:178
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    Cited by:

    1. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Jacob, Martin & Schneider, Kerstin, 2020. "Do tax incentives reduce investment quality?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 248, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    2. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Jacob, Martin & Schneider, Kerstin, 2023. "Do tax incentives affect investment quality?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Kay Blaufus & Frank Hechtner & Janine K. Jarzembski, 2019. "The Income Tax Compliance Costs of Private Households: Empirical Evidence from Germany," Public Finance Review, , vol. 47(5), pages 925-966, September.
    4. Era Dabla-Norris & Florian Misch & Duncan Cleary & Munawer Khwaja, 2020. "The quality of tax administration and firm performance: evidence from developing countries," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(3), pages 514-551, June.
    5. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Hechtner, Frank, 2016. "Tax compliance costs: Cost burden and cost reliability," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 212, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    6. Dobbins, Laura & Eichfelder, Sebastian & Hechtner, Frank & Hundsdoerfer, Jochen, 2018. "Intertemporal income shifting around a large tax cut: The case of depreciations," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 229, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    7. Dreher, Sandra & Eichfelder, Sebastian & Noth, Felix, 2022. "Does IFRS information on tax loss carryforwards and negative performance improve predictions of earnings and cash flows?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 276, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    8. Barrios, Salvador & d'Andria, Diego & Gesualdo, Maria, 2020. "Reducing tax compliance costs through corporate tax base harmonization in the European Union," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    9. James Atta Peprah & Francis Kwaw Andoh & Eric Atsu Avorkpo & Kwabena Nkansah Dafor & Benedict Afful Jr & Camara Kwasi Obeng, 2022. "Compliance Burden and Tax Gap Among Micro and Small Businesses: Evidence From Ghana," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(4), pages 21582440221, October.
    10. Asatryan, Zareh & Peichl, Andreas, 2016. "Responses of firms to tax, administrative and accounting rules: Evidence from Armenia," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-065, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    11. Kay Blaufus & Franziska Hoffmann, 2020. "The effect of simplified cash accounting on tax and financial accounting compliance costs," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(2), pages 173-205, March.
    12. Schenkel, Andreas, 2015. "Bankenregulierung und Bürokratiekosten: Ein Problemaufriss," Arbeitspapiere 152, University of Münster, Institute for Cooperatives.
    13. Hoppe, Thomas & Schanz, Deborah & Sturm, Susann & Sureth, Caren, 2019. "Measuring tax complexity across countries: A survey study on MNCs," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 245, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    14. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Schneider, Kerstin, 2018. "How do tax incentives affect business investment? Evidence from German bonus depreciation," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 231, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    15. Laura Dobbins & Sebastian Eichfelder & Frank Hechtner & Jochen Hundsdoerfer, 2018. "Intertemporal Income Shifting Around a Large Tax Cut: the Case of Depreciations," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 70(4), pages 313-340, November.
    16. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Knaisch, Jonas & Schneider, Kerstin, 2023. "How does bonus depreciation affect real investment? Effect size, asset structure, and tax planning," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 278, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    17. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Neugebauer, Claudia, 2014. "Das steueroptimale Kraftfahrzeug bei Gewinneinkünften: Mythos und Realität," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 180, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    18. Neba Bhalla & Rakesh Kumar Sharma & Inderjit Kaur, 2023. "Effect of Goods and Service Tax System on Business Performance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    tax compliance costs; cost structures; cost burdens; cost drivers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

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