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Mental accounting and the impact of tax penalty and audit frequency on the declaration of income: An experimental analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Maciejovsky, Boris
  • Kirchler, Erich
  • Schwarzenberger, Herbert

Abstract

We investigate (i) whether traders on an experimental asset market form different and separate mental accounts for sale revenues and for dividend earnings and whether (ii) an increase in tax penalty or (iii) an increase in audit frequency increases tax compliance. The results indicate that participants did not form separate mental accounts for sale revenues and for dividend earnings. However in line with prospect theory, it can be shown that a purchase of assets is perceived as a subjective loss that one tries to repair by risk seeking behavior. Participants who increased their net asset holdings declared less income to the tax authorities. Furthermore, the results indicate that an increase in tax penalties as well as an increase in audit frequency increased compliance. In addition, it was found that tax compliance was lower after an audit, especially after the first audit, and that it was lower for participants with high incomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Maciejovsky, Boris & Kirchler, Erich & Schwarzenberger, Herbert, 2001. "Mental accounting and the impact of tax penalty and audit frequency on the declaration of income: An experimental analysis," SFB 373 Discussion Papers 2001,16, Humboldt University of Berlin, Interdisciplinary Research Project 373: Quantification and Simulation of Economic Processes.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:sfb373:200116
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Johannes Abeler & Felix Marklein, 2017. "Fungibility, Labels, and Consumption," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 99-127.
    2. Kirchler, Erich & Maciejovsky, Boris & Schneider, Friedrich, 2003. "Everyday representations of tax avoidance, tax evasion, and tax flight: Do legal differences matter?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 535-553, August.
    3. Fochmann, Martin & Wolf, Nadja, 2015. "Mental accounting in tax evasion decisions: An experiment on underreporting and overdeducting," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 186, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    4. Fochmann, Martin & Kroll, Eike B., 2016. "The effects of rewards on tax compliance decisions," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 38-55.
    5. Fochmann, Martin & Kroll, Eike B., 2014. "The effects of rewards on tax compliance decisions," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 163, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    6. Martin Fochmann & Frank Hechtner & Tobias Kölle & Michael Overesch, 2021. "Combating overreporting of deductions in tax returns: prefilling and restricting the deductibility of expenditures," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(7), pages 935-964, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    mental accounting; tax evasion; prospect theory;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions

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