High tax compliance will reduce rather than facilitate the growth of government spending. There are several reasons for this. First, tax evasion reduces the effective price of public programs thus increasing the quantity demanded. Second, tax evasion is not uniform across income classes and the...

Taxpayer audits are a central feature of the voluntary compliance system in the United States federal individual income tax. Audits are thought to have a direct deterrent effect on the individuals actually audited. Audits are also believed to have an indirect deterrent effect on individuals not...