What you do (not) get when expanding the net- Evidence from forced taxpayer registrations in South Africa

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lediga, Collen; Riedel, Nadine; Strohmaier, Kristina
• 署名单位: Ruhr University Bochum; University of Munster; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; University of Duisburg Essen
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103388
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Formalization policy; Tax authority digitization; Developing countries

摘要

A significant share of firms in developing countries is not registered for income taxation. Expanding the tax net is a priority for many governments, but most formalization policies proved relatively ineffective in bringing firms into the tax net. Drawing on rich tax administrative data, we document that snapshot-synchronizations of the business tax and the commercial registry in South Africa led to a large-scale expansion of the South African business taxpayer net. While the targeted firms area valuable segment within the non-formal sector, we show that their post-registration tax compliance is weak and few of them pay taxes. Owing to the large scope of the tax net expansion, the aggregate revenue gains are, nevertheless, non-negligible and the interventions are fiscally cost-effective. In additional analyses, we provide evidence for enforcement spillovers: In areas where many firms were drawn into the tax net, tax registration timing compliance significantly improved after the snapshot synchronizations. We find no indication of a drop in registration numbers at the commercial registry.