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Heard it Through the Grapevine: Direct and Network Effects of a Tax Enforcement Field Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • William C. Boning
  • John Guyton
  • Ronald H. Hodge, II
  • Joel Slemrod
  • Ugo Troiano

Abstract

Tax enforcement may affect both the behavior of those directly treated and of some taxpayers not directly treated but linked via a network to those who are treated. A large-scale randomized field experiment enables us to examine both the direct and network effects of letters and in-person visits on withheld income and payroll tax remittances by at-risk firms. Visited firms remit substantially more tax. Their tax preparers’ other clients also remit slightly more tax, while their subsidiaries remit slightly less. Letters have a much smaller direct effect and no network effects, yet may improve compliance at lower cost.

Suggested Citation

  • William C. Boning & John Guyton & Ronald H. Hodge, II & Joel Slemrod & Ugo Troiano, 2018. "Heard it Through the Grapevine: Direct and Network Effects of a Tax Enforcement Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 24305, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24305
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Marie Bjørneby & Annette Alstadsæter & Kjetil Telle, 2018. "Collusive Tax Evasion by Employers and Employees: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Norway," CESifo Working Paper Series 7381, CESifo.
    2. Gonzalo E. Sánchez, 2022. "Non-compliance notifications and taxpayer strategic behavior: evidence from Ecuador," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(3), pages 627-666, June.
    3. Andr's Gonz'lez Lira & Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak, 2018. "Slippery Fish: Enforcing Regulation when Agents Learn and Adapt," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2143R, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, revised Mar 2021.
    4. Dina Pomeranz & José Vila-Belda, 2019. "Taking State-Capacity Research to the Field: Insights from Collaborations with Tax Authorities," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 755-781, August.
    5. Harju, Jarkko & Kotakorpi, Kaisa & Matikka, Tuomas & Nivala, Annika, 2024. "How Do Firms Respond to Risk-based Tax Audits?," Working Papers 165, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Annette Alstadsæter & Wojciech Kopczuk & Kjetil Telle, 2019. "Social networks and tax avoidance: evidence from a well-defined Norwegian tax shelter," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(6), pages 1291-1328, December.
    7. Antinyan, Armenak & Asatryan, Zareh, 2019. "Nudging for tax compliance: A meta-analysis," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-055, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. John A. List & Fatemeh Momeni & Yves Zenou, 2020. "The Social Side of Early Human Capital Formation: Using a Field Experiment to Estimate the Causal Impact of Neighborhoods," Working Papers 2020-187, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    9. Li, Lixing & Liu, Kevin Zhengcheng & Nie, Zhuo & Xi, Tianyang, 2021. "Evading by any means? VAT enforcement and payroll tax evasion in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 770-784.
    10. Reda Aboutajdine & Pierre Picard, 2019. "Should I Stalk or Should I Go? An Auditing Exploration/Exploitation Dilemma," Working Papers hal-02373199, HAL.
    11. Gillitzer, Christian & Sinning, Mathias, 2020. "Nudging businesses to pay their taxes: Does timing matter?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 284-300.
    12. James Alm & Laura Rosales Cifuentes & Carlos Mauricio Ortiz Niño & Diana Rocha, 2019. "Can Behavioral “Nudges” Improve Compliance? The Case of Colombia Social Protection Contributions," Games, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-23, October.
    13. Lopez-Luzuriaga, Andrea & Scartascini, Carlos, 2019. "Compliance spillovers across taxes: The role of penalties and detection," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 518-534.
    14. Juan F. Castro & Daniel Velásquez & Arlette Beltrán & Gustavo Yamada, 2020. "Spillovers and Long Run Effects of Messages on Tax Compliance: Experimental Evidence from Peru," Working Papers 174, Peruvian Economic Association.
    15. John A. List & Fatemeh Momeni & Yves Zenou, 2020. "The Social Side of Early Human Capital Formation: Using a Field Experiment to Estimate the Causal Impact of Neighborhoods," Working Papers 2020-187, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    16. Eerola, Essi & Kosonen, Tuomas & Kotakorpi, Kaisa & Lyytikäinen, Teemu & Tuimala, Jarno, 2019. "Tax Compliance in the Rental Housing Market: Evidence from a Field Experiment," Working Papers 122, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    17. Gamannossi degl’Innocenti, Duccio & Rablen, Matthew D., 2020. "Tax evasion on a social network," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 79-91.
    18. Marco Battaglini & Luigi Guiso & Chiara Lacava & Eleonora Patacchini, 2019. "Tax Professionals: Tax-Evasion Facilitators or Information Hubs?," NBER Working Papers 25745, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. List, John A. & Momeni, Fatemeh & Zenou, Yves, 2019. "Are Estimates of Early Education Programs Too Pessimistic? Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment that Causally Measures Neighbor Effects," Working Paper Series 1293, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    20. Zenou, Yves & List, John & Momeni, Fatemeh, 2019. "Are Estimates of Early Education Programs Too Pessimistic? Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment that Causally Measures," CEPR Discussion Papers 13725, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Di Gioacchino, Debora & Fichera, Domenico, 2020. "Tax evasion and tax morale: A social network analysis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    22. John Guyton & Kara Leibel & Day Manoli & Ankur Patel & Mark Payne & Brenda Schafer, 2023. "The Effects of EITC Correspondence Audits on Low-Income Earners," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 38, pages 163-207, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Gonzalez-Lira, Andres & Mobarak, Ahmed Mushfiq, 2019. "Slippery Fish: Enforcing Regulation under Subversive Adaptation," IZA Discussion Papers 12179, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    24. Kamm, Aaron & Koch, Christian & Nikiforakis, Nikos, 2021. "The ghost of institutions past: History as an obstacle to fighting tax evasion?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    25. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Glaeser, Stephen & Kepler, John D., 2019. "Strategic reactions in corporate tax planning," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

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