Enhancing the Capital gains tax on property compliance – a survey experiment.

Last registered on January 23, 2024
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Enhancing the Capital gains tax on property compliance – a survey experiment.
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0012840
Initial registration date
January 23, 2024

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 23, 2024, 1:18 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Dagmara Celik Katreniak
Affiliation
City, University of London
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Lubomir Cingl
PI Affiliation
Prague University of Economics and Business
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PI Name
Matej Lorko
PI Affiliation
University of Economics in Bratislava
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PI Name
Richard Priesol
PI Affiliation
Institute for Financial Policy
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PI Name
Berenika Tužilová
PI Affiliation
Institute for Financial Policy
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-01-26
End date
2024-04-30
Keywords
Behavior, Gender, Governance, Other
Additional Keywords
capital gain tax, compliance, gender difference, simplification
JEL code(s)
H24, H26, C93, C99, D81, D91
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
This follow-up survey experiment serves as a complementary study to the field letter experiment conducted in collaboration with the Financial Administration in Slovakia. The primary objective of the initial field experiment was to boost the collection of Capital Gain Tax on property by sending informative letters to potential evaders, emphasizing their obligations. Different versions of these letters, some accompanied by graphical leaflets, were employed. In this follow-up survey experiment, our focus is directed towards understanding the respondents’ perceptions and interpretations of the letters and leaflets. We aim to gauge their satisfaction with the provided information and delve into various clarification aspects.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Celik Katreniak, Dagmara et al. 2024. "Enhancing the Capital gains tax on property compliance – a survey experiment. ." AEA RCT Registry. January 23. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.12840-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Participants will encounter one of two hypothetical scenarios, determining whether they are obligated to pay a capital gain tax on property. They will be asked to carefully read the letter (and leaflet, if applicable) and respond to a series of questions. The letters (and leaflets) will always be accessible on each screen for participants who may need to revisit the content. In total, we have 13 treatment groups and 1 control group. The comprehensive table detailing all treatment groups is provided in the attached experimental protocol.
Intervention Start Date
2024-01-26
Intervention End Date
2024-04-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our initial objective is to compare the differences in primary outcomes across the set of treatments in two scenarios, with the aim of uncovering potential mechanisms underlying our field experimental findings. The key primary outcomes include:
respondents' perception of the situation's gravity, their sense of obligation to pay the tax, willingness to comply with the tax, perception of risk of a tax audit, experience of information overload, clarity of shared information, and respondents' perception of the Financial Administration competence.
These primary outcomes are directly measured through respondents' answers to survey questions.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Additionally, we intend to look at whether different treatments elicit varying emotional responses from the participants. Using socio-demographic data, our next step will be to conduct heterogeneity analysis.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Respondents are randomly assigned to one of the treatment/control groups. In total, we have 14 groups distinguished by the situation respondents encounter aiming to shed light on potential mechanisms behind the results we found in the field experiment conducted in cooperation with the Financial Administration in Slovakia.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
We have programmed the survey such that a computer randomly allocates respondents into treatment/control groups.
Randomization Unit
Randomization is done at an individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
The target sample is 2,100 respondents.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
In total, we plan to have 150 individuals per treatment/control group.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
The minimum detectable effect size is 0.1 standard deviation, which is for our case sufficient. We plan to pool information from both scenarios to increase the power.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Prague University of Economics and Business
IRB Approval Date
2024-01-03
IRB Approval Number
11b/2023
Analysis Plan