Technology, Taxation, and Corruption: Evidence from the Introduction of Electronic Tax Filings

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Okunogbe, Oyebola; Pouliquen, Victor
• 署名单位: The World Bank; University of Oxford
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20200123
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 341-372
• 关键词: gender

摘要

Many e-government initiatives introduce technology to improve efficiency and avoid potential human bias. Using experimental variation, we examine the impact of electronic tax filing (to replace in-person submission to tax officials) using data from Tajikistan firms. E-filing reduces the time firms spend on taxes by 40 percent. Further, among firms previously more likely to evade, e-filing doubles taxes paid. Conversely, evidence suggests that e-filing reduces tax payments among firms previously less likely to evade. These firms also pay fewer bribes, as e-filing reduces extortion opportunities. These patterns are consistent with differential treatment of firms by tax officials prior to e-filing.