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on Public Finance |
| By: | Bohne, Albrecht; Nimczik, Jan Sebastian |
| Abstract: | We evaluate a tax reform in Ecuador that introduced generous deductions from personal income taxes (PIT), encouraging consumers to request receipts. The reform addresses tax evasion by targeting small self-employed businesses that mainly sell goods or services not subject to VAT but often evade income taxes. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in receipt demand due to the distribution of taxpayers across regions and professions, we find significant increases in reported profits among self-employed businesses exposed to the reform. We document spillover effects on the VAT system. Our net-revenue impact analysis suggests that the additional tax payments outweigh the foregone tax revenue. |
| Keywords: | Formalization, Tax Avoidance, VAT, Personal Income Tax |
| JEL: | O17 H26 H24 H25 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:333929 |
| By: | Tassi, Annalisa; Bussy, Adrien |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether firms engage in VAT evasion at the retail stage-typically a point of weakness in VAT systems-in a high-enforcement, low-informality setting. To measure evasion, we exploit a reform of VAT rules (the reverse charge, RC) whereby retailers do not only remit taxes on their own value-added, but on that created along the entire supply chain, increasing their incentive to evade. Using German administrative firm-level VAT return data and an instrumental variable approach based on RC's staggered introduction, we find no evidence of greater evasion under RC. Our results suggest that evasion at the retail stage might not be quantitatively important in high-enforcement and low-informality settings, implying little need to enlist consumers in tax enforcement to boost tax compliance. |
| Keywords: | Value Added Tax, VAT, Reverse Charge Mechanism, Tax Evasion, Withholding, Last-Mile Problem |
| JEL: | H21 H26 D22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:333931 |
| By: | Dhaval M. Dave; Tessie Krishna; Yang Liang; Joseph J. Sabia |
| Abstract: | The rise in nicotine vaping among U.S. teenagers in the late 2010s prompted tobacco control advocates to press for higher electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) taxes to curb their use. This study is the first to explore how the effectiveness of e-cigarette taxation as an anti-vaping policy tool has evolved over time. Using data from several nationally representative data sources and a generalized difference-in-differences approach, we find that since 2020, the effectiveness of a one dollar increase in ENDS taxes in curbing youth nicotine vaping has declined by over 50 percent. This finding is consistent with the marginal youth vaper becoming more tax inelastic over time. Descriptive evidence shows that the composition of youth ENDS users appears to have shifted toward those with a higher addictive stock and a greater taste for risk, which could make youths less tax responsive. For adults, where nicotine vaping rates are stable or slightly rising and compositional shifts are somewhat less pronounced, we find much less evidence that ENDS tax effectiveness has changed over time. |
| JEL: | H71 I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34544 |
| By: | Bohne, Albrecht; Hines, James R.; Koumpias, Antonios M.; Tassi, Annalisa |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effect of reverse-charge mechanism (RCM) implementation on VAT compliance using an overall, countrylevel measure of VAT compliance, the VAT gap. The VAT gap is defined as the overall difference between expected and realized VAT revenues and is a broader measure than outcomes employed in previous research, incorporating all types of VAT evasion. Exploiting the staggered adoption of RCM across Europe and the size of industries targeted by RCM, we compare changes in the VAT gap before and after RCM implementation. Evidence from difference-in-differences, event study, and heterogeneous treatment effects estimators indicates that the adoption of the RCM does not lead to significant EU-wide changes on the aggregate VAT gap. Moreover, our results illustrate the mixed impacts of RCM on different goods and industries, with measurable decreases in VAT losses in the construction and industrial crops industries. This study's findings do not provide strong support for policy changes that cast the net of the RCM wider on all industries and EU member states, although bilateral coordination in RCM adoption with top trading partners may assist in curbing VAT fraud relocation. |
| Keywords: | Tax evasion, VAT, VAT gap, reverse-charge mechanism, carousel fraud |
| JEL: | H26 K42 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:333928 |
| By: | Nicolas Ajzenman (McGill University); Martín Ardanaz (Inter-American Development Bank); Guillermo Cruces (Universidad de San Andrés-CONICET, University of Nottingham); Germán Feierherd (Universidad de San Andrés); Ignacio Lunghi (New York University & CEDLAS-IIE-UNLP) |
| Abstract: | Corruption—and the widespread perception of it—poses significant obstacles to development by eroding institutional trust and reducing citizens’ willingness to pay taxes. Yet, government efforts to improve public perceptions by combating corruption may prove ineffective—or even backfire—when confronted with entrenched pessimistic beliefs. We propose that providing an external benchmark of corruption to shift the reference point before highlighting government actions can mitigate these negative effects. In a survey experiment exploiting an institutional reform within Honduras’ tax agency, we find that messages focusing solely on reform efforts have limited or negative effects. By contrast, a combined message that first corrects pessimistic beliefs and then highlights anti-corruption efforts significantly reduces perceived corruption and tax evasion intentions. A field experiment with approximately 45, 000 taxpayers confirms that this sequencing approach increases actual tax compliance. These findings suggest that belief updating is possible—but only when information is structured to first engage and recalibrate skeptical priors. |
| Keywords: | Corruption, Tax Administration, Tax Evasion, Field Experiment |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sad:wpaper:173 |
| By: | Gwen-Jiro Clochard; Shubham Dey; Shusaku Sasaki; Taisuke Imai |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the first quantitative meta-analysis of the price elasticity of charitable giving under both rebate and matching schemes. We compile 151 elasticity estimates from 33 experimental studies and synthesize them using random-effects and multi-level models. Charitable giving is highly price-responsive: the pooled meta-analytic mean elasticity of total donations is −1.25, indicating that lowering the effective price of giving substantially increases charitable revenue. Althoughwe observe considerable between-study heterogeneity and some evidence of publication bias, bias-adjusted estimates remain negative. Furthermore, elasticity is substantially more negative under matching (−1.98) than under rebate (−0.87), contradicting the theoretical prediction of equivalence but aligning with the original experimental findings in this literature. The rebate-matching difference is attenuated when moving from laboratory to field settings, although it persists. |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1299 |
| By: | Kaplan, Scott; White, Justin S. |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how excise taxes affect outcomes related to both taxed characteristics of a product and associated, untaxed characteristics. The empirical analysis examines volumetric excise taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs); while the tax is levied on volume, a primary objective of these taxes is to reduce sugar intake. Using national high-frequency retail scanner data and a staggered adoption synthetic difference-in-differences approach, we study the impacts of volumetric taxes across the US on prices and purchases of volume and sugar from SSBs. First, due to a linear tax and non-linear pricing in volume, we find volumetric taxes disproportionately increase the price of larger-volume products, increasing the average price per ounce by 4.4% for products in the smallest product size quartile and 24.6% in the largest quartile. Second, we show a specific excise tax generates an equivalent tax rate on taxed and untaxed characteristics within a product. Finally, volumetric taxes in the US led to (i) larger overall reductions in volume (-36.2%) compared to grams of sugar (-31.0%) purchased from SSBs, and (ii) smaller increases in the average price per ounce (26.5%) compared to the average price per gram of sugar (40.7%). We find the gap in relative reductions in volume versus sugar is plausibly driven by consumer substitution to products with higher sugar concentrations. The findings have important implications for specific excise tax structures, which should consider heterogeneity across products in both taxed and untaxed characteristics of interest. |
| Keywords: | Health Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360923 |
| By: | Bhandari, Nabin; Miao, Ruiqing |
| Abstract: | A key feature of circular economy is the economic connection between virgin firms and recycling firms. We develop a conceptual framework to study the impact of taxing virgin plastic consumers with money back policy (TCMB) and, separately, taxing virgin plastic producers (TP) on total social welfare in the U.S. plastic market under two scenarios (virgin and recycling plastic firms economically connected (scenario I) vs independent (scenario II)). We find that taxing consumers with money back (TCMB) policy is superior to taxing producers (TP) to reduce the landfill quantity in both scenarios. For example, under 10% tax (in both TCMB and TP) policy and the assumption of 10% of the used virgin plastic returned to collection centers and 30% of tax amount being returned to consumers in TCMB policy, we find that the landfill quantity is 64% and 62% of virgin plastic produced in scenario I and scenario II, respectively under TCMB policy. However, in TP policy, the landfill quantity is 74% (scenario I) and 74.6% (scenario II) of produced virgin plastic. Accounting the environmental damage cost associated with production of virgin plastic, taxing either consumer or producer increases the total social welfare (TSW) in the U.S. plastic market compared to the no policy scenario. Under scenario II, TCMB and TP generate 23% and 15.67%, respectively, additional total social welfare in the plastic market compared to the benchmark scenario. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360722 |
| By: | Sara Drango; Sarah Moshary; Bradley Shapiro |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effect of California's 11 percent excise tax on firearms, introduced in July 2024, on retail prices. Using price quotes for 48 popular firearms from over 2, 200 licensed dealers, we compare California prices to those in other states and to pre-tax trends. We find that prices in California increase by about 10% in response to the 11% tax. Results are consistent across gun types and show no evidence of border spillovers. These findings indicate that firearm excise taxes can effectively raise consumer prices. |
| JEL: | H21 H22 H23 I18 K34 L11 L68 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34527 |
| By: | Giulia Klinges; Alain Jousten; Mathieu Lefebvre |
| Abstract: | Over the years, the Belgian social security system has undergone substantial reform with a prime focus on increasing older worker labor force participation. The paper explores the effect of past reforms on inequality in old age. We distinguish two separate effects: The mechanical effect considers the change in inequality and expected benefit levels due to the reforms for a fixed retirement age distribution. The behavioral effect accounts for the endogenous change caused by changes in the incentives to work. Our results show that mechanically, reforms have led to losses in expected benefits for all but the lowest income quintile. Behavioral changes had a positive but orders of magnitude smaller effect. Overall, inequality decreased as a result of reforms. |
| JEL: | D63 H55 I38 J26 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34579 |
| By: | Salah, Amel |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to explore the relationship between corporate social responsibility and tax avoidance among publicly listed banks, based on their annual reports and websites within a developing market, specifically Tunisia. The necessary data were collected from the annual reports of a sample of nine Tunisian banks listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange (BVMT) for the period from 2012 to 2018. According to the estimated results, it can be concluded that the less involved banks are in economic and environmental activities, the more likely they are to engage in fraudulent tax-related behaviors. The findings indicate that a bank’s tax avoidance is influenced by the nature of its social responsibility activities. In particular, banks that participate in social initiatives are less prone to evade taxes. |
| Keywords: | corporate social responsibility, tax avoidance, BVMT. |
| JEL: | G3 H26 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:127478 |
| By: | Toshiyuki Uemura (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes donation price competition between leader local governments with strong brand power and follower local governments with weak brand power, where multiple local governments offer similar local products as reciprocal gifts under the hometown tax donation (Furusato Nozei) system in Japan. We construct a strategic price competition model in which the strategic variables are donation prices and the timing of decision-making is sequential, with some governments acting first and others acting second in the presence of the brand externalities of reciprocal gifts. Based on a theoretical model grounded in household utility maximization and local governments' net donation revenue maximization, we formulate donation price reaction functions and demonstrate the policy implications for surplus through a comparative static analysis. To validate this theoretical model, we estimate donation demand functions using spatial econometric analysis. In an analysis targeting governments in Hokkaido offering reciprocal gifts with the well-known Hokkaido brand, the coefficients indicating complementarity between reciprocal gifts are significant due to brand externalities. Consistent with the theoretical model's assumptions, the empirical analysis also suggests the existence of leader governments, confirming the structure of strategic price competition, where the donation price of leader governments influences that of follower governments. The contributions of this study lie in its theoretical model of strategic price competition for the hometown tax donation system, comparative static analysis, and empirical verification of the existence of leader governments using spatial econometric analysis based on the haversine distance. We find that strengthening the brand power of reciprocal gifts is crucial for gaining a surplus. |
| Keywords: | Strategic price competition, Brand externalities, Spatial econometric analysis |
| JEL: | H71 H72 H77 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:305 |