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Collaborative Tax Evasion in the Provision of Services to Consumers: A Field Experiment

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  • Annabelle Doerr
  • Sarah Necker

Abstract

We conduct a field experiment with sellers of home improvement services on two German online markets. We take the role of consumers and vary whether we request an invoice for the delivery of the service. In a market that allows anyone to sell anonymously, a willingness to evade is prevalent. In a market that keeps track of credentials, sellers are only willing to evade when a willingness to collude is signaled. The evasion discount is in most estimates not larger than the tax subsidy for legal demand. Evasion is unlikely to be beneficial for many consumers in our setting.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:185-216
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190675
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kotakorpi, Kaisa & Nurminen, Tuomas & Miettinen, Topi & Metsälampi, Satu, 2024. "Bearing the burden — Implications of tax reporting institutions on evasion and incidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 81-134.
    3. Youngrok Kim & Hongyu Wan & Minjo Kang, 2022. "Card or cash? Evidence regarding consumers' cooperative value‐added tax compliance," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 337-359, September.
    4. Burgstaller, Lilith & Pfeil, Katharina, 2024. "You don’t need an invoice, do you? An online experiment on collaborative tax evasion," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Lilith Burgstaller & Annabelle Doerr & Sarah Necker, 2023. "Do Household Tax Credits Increase the Demand for Legally Provided Services?," CESifo Working Paper Series 10211, CESifo.
    6. Arezzo, Maria Felice & Horodnic, Ioana A. & Williams, Colin C. & Guagnano, Giuseppina, 2024. "Measuring participation in undeclared work in Europe using survey data: A method for resolving social desirability bias," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Burgstaller, Lilith & Pfeil, Katharina, 2022. "You don't need an invoice, do you? An online experiment on collaborative tax evasion," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 22/6, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    8. Burgstaller, Lilith & Feld, Lars P. & Pfeil, Katharina, 2022. "Working in the shadow: Survey techniques for measuring and explaining undeclared work," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 661-671.
    9. Buettner, Thiess & Madzharova, Boryana & Zaddach, Orlando, 2023. "Income tax credits for consumer services: A tool for tackling VAT evasion?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    10. Kaisa Kotakorpi & Tuomas Nurminen & Topi Miettinen & Satu Metsälampi, 2022. "Bearing the burden – Implications of tax reporting institutions and image concerns on evasion and incidence," Working Papers 3, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    11. Jarkko Harju & Sami Jysmä & Aliisa Koivisto & Tuomas Kosonen, 2023. "Do household tax credits increase consumption? The role of demand elasticity and the extent of demand," Working Papers 8, Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research.
    12. Burgstaller, Lilith & Doerr, Annabelle & Necker, Sarah, 2023. "Incentives for Consumers to Act as Tax Auditors: (When) Are They Effective?," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277628, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • L84 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Personal, Professional, and Business Services

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