Using a quasi-experimental design, I show that self-reported information requirements are effective at reducing evasion. I use a reform that simplified the reporting rules for tax deductions of noncash charitable contributions in the U.S. to show that weaker reporting requirements led to a large...

This study empirically investigates the deficit/tax-compliance hypothesis that higher federal budget deficits resulting from increased government spending lead to decreased federal personal income tax compliance in the U.S. The study period runs from 1960-2001 and adopts annual data. After...

A benchmark result in the political economy of taxation is that the degree of redistribution is positively linked to income inequality. However, empirical evidence supporting such a relationship turns out to be mixed. This paper shows how these different empirical reactions can be rationalized...

A benchmark result in the political economy of taxation is that the degree of redistribution is positively linked to income inequality. However, empirical evidence supporting such a relationship turns out to be mixed. This paper shows how these different empirical reactions can be rationalized...

This study empirically investigates the determinants of aggregate federal personal income tax evasion in the U.S. using the most current IRS data available. In 2010, the IRS released a new series on personal income tax evasion data running through the year 2005. Using this new data, the present...

Unaccounted for currency in the U.S. is argued to reflect the presence of widespread income tax evasion. This empirical study seeks to identify determinants of the underground economy in the U.S. in the form of federal personal income tax evasion over the period 1970-2008. In this study, we use...

In 2013, federal personal income tax increases were implemented in the U.S. under provisions of two federal statutes: the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Based on our analysis of data for the time period 1970-2008, we argue that...

This exploratory study investigates the hypothesis that higher levels of economic freedom in an “economic region” promote a higher level of economic activity and hence yield higher levels of per capita real income in that economic region, ceteris paribus. However, in the pursuit of a broader...

This study investigates the hypothesis that higher federal budget deficits act to increase the degree of federal personal income tax evasion in the U.S. Using annual data on aggregate personal income tax evasion for the period 1961-1997, 1997 being the most recent year for which all of the...

This note empirically investigates the impact of various factors on income tax evasion in the U.S. over the 1973-1997 period. The estimate indicates that income tax evasion is an increasing function of the average effective federal personal income tax rate and the public's dissatisfaction with...