Determinants of aggregate income-tax-evasion behaviour: the case of US
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13133/2037-3643/10599Keywords:
Research, Underground economy, tax evasion, US economyAbstract
The determinants of aggregate income-tax-evasion behaviour as reflected in the size of the underground economy in the US are analysed. These factors include the federal personal income tax rate, the social security tax rate, the federal corporation income tax rate, the public's dissatisfaction with the government, IRS audit rates and IRS penalty assessments on detected unreported income. The results show that the size of the underground economy is an increasing function of federal personal income tax rate, the social security tax rate and the public's dissatisfaction with the government. However, the size is a decreasing function of IRS penalty payments on unpaid taxes.
JEL Codes: H26, E26
References
ALLINGHAM M.G. and A. SANDMO (1972), "Income tax evasion", Journal of Public Economics, 1(3/4), pp. 323-38.
ALM J., B. JACKSON and M. McKEE (1992), "Institutional uncertainty and taxpayer compliance", American Economic Review, 82 (4), pp. 1018-26.
BALDRY J.C. (1987), "Income tax evasion and the tax schedule: some experimental results", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 42(2), pp. 357-83.
BAWLEY D. (1982), The Subterranean Economy, McGraw-Hill, New York.
BENJAMINI Y. and S. MAITAL (1985),"Optimal tax evasion and optimal tax evasion policy: behavioral aspects", in W. Gaertner and A. Wenig eds, The Economics of the Shadow Economy, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
CAGAN P. (1958), "The demand for currency relative to the total money supply", Journal of Political Economy, 66(2), pp. 303-28.
CARSON C. (1984), "The underground economy: an introduction", Survey of Current Business, 64, May and July.
CLOTFELTER T. (1983), "Tax evasion and tax rates: an analysis of individual returns", Review of Economics and Statistics, 65(2), pp. 363-73.
COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISOR (1997), Economic Report of the President, 1997. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington.
DAS-GUPTA A. (1994), "A theory of had-to-tax groups", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 49(4), pp. 28-39.
DE JUAN A. (1989), Fiscal Attitudes and Behavior: A Study of 16-35 Year Old Swedish Citizens, Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm.
DE JUAN A., M.A. LASHERAS and R. MAYO (1994), "Voluntary tax compliant behavior of Spanish tax payers," Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 49(4), pp. 90-105.
ERARD B. and J.S. FEINSTEIN (1994), "The role of moral sentiments and audit perceptions in tax compliance", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 49(4), pp. 70-89.
FALKINGER J. (1988), "Tax evasion and equity: a theoretical analysis", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 43(3), pp. 388-95.
FEIGE E.L. (1989), The Underground Economies: Tax Evasion and Information Distortion, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
FEIGE E.L. (1994), "The underground economy and the currency enigma", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 49(4), pp. 119-36.
FRIEDLAND N. (1982), "A note on tax evasion as a function of the quality of information about the credibility of threatened fines: some preliminary research", Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 12(1), pp. 54-59.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE (1970-96), Annual Report of the Commissioner and Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Government Priting Office, Washington.
KLEPPER S., D. NAGIN and S. SPURR (1991), "Tax rates, tax compliance, and the reporting of long-term/capital gains", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 46(2), pp. 236-51.
MCLE0D J. (1997), "Inflation and the size of the underground economy: analysis for 1962-1980 with the Tanzi data", Academy of Economics and Finance Proceedings, 21, pp. 407-10.
PESTIEAU P., U. POSSEN and S. SLUTSKY (1994), "Optimal differential taxes and penalties", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 49(4), pp. 15-27.
POMMEREHNE W.W. and H. WECK-HANNEMANN (1989), "Tax rates, tax administra-tion and income tax evasion in Switzerland", paper presented at the Conference of Applied Econometrics Association, Rome.
POZO S. ed. (1996), Exploring the Underground Economy, Upjohn, Kalamazoo.
PYLE D. (1989), Tax Evasion and the Black Economy, St. Martin's Press, New York.
SLEMROD J.B., "An empirical test for tax evasion", Review of Economics and Statistics, 67(2), pp. 232-67.
SPICER M.W. and S.B. LUNDSTED (1976), "Understanding tax evasion", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 31(2), pp. 295-305.
SPICER M.W. and J.E. THOMAS (1982), "Audit probabilities and the tax evasion decision: an experimental approach", Journal of Economic Psychology, 2(2), pp. 241- 45.
TANZI V. (1982), The Underground Economy in the United States and Abroad, Lexington Books, Lexington.
TANZI V. (1983), "The underground economy in the United States: annual estimates, 1930-1980", IMF Staff Papers, pp. 283-305.
THURMAN Q.C. (1981), "Taxpayer noncompliance and general prevention: an expansion of the deterrence model", Public Finance/Finances Publiques, 46(2), pp. 289-98.
WHITE H. (1980), "A heteroskedasticity-consistent covariance matrix estimator and a direct test for heteroskedasticity", Econometrica, 48 (4), pp. 817-38.