Harnessing Deductions to Increase Tax Compliance and Formalization

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bohne, Albrecht; Nimczik, Jan sebastian
• 署名单位: Leibniz Association; Zentrum fur Europaische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW); European School of Management & Technology
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230365
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: taxable income; taxation; evasion; FIRMS; elasticity; LABOR

摘要

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 value-added taxes (VAT) but that 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 VAT. Our net-revenue impact analysis suggests the additional tax payments outweigh the foregone tax revenue. (JEL H24, H25, H26, J23, K34, O17)