Intervention(s)
Our intervention consists in sending letters to potential rental income debtors living on six of the most affluent districts in Peru. We are sending four types of messages: (i) a reminder (to serve as a control group); (ii) a message referring to social norms which informs tax payers that most of their neighbors pay their taxes; (iii) a message referring to civic duty which highlights the importance of paying taxes to fund social policies; and (iv) a message that informs tax payers about the enforcement actions taken by the tax authority. Individuals in the evaluation sample were randomly assigned to one of these four groups. Each individual from each group will receive four times the same message (one per month). Letters will be complemented with emails and SMS.
The contents of these messages are (in English, but recall that original messages are in Spanish):
Reminder
"If you receive rental income , remember to pay your tax.
Find out how to declare and pay this type of tax at http://personas.sunat.gob.pe/alquilo-mi-casa-o-auto.
If you receive rental income and have already paid your taxes, congratulations!
Sincerely".
Social norms
"If you receive rental income, remember to pay your tax.
Note that most of the residents of Barranco, La Molina, Miraflores, San Isidro, San Borja and Surco comply with their rental income taxes.
Find out how to declare and pay this type of tax at http://personas.sunat.gob.pe/alquilo-mi-casa-o-auto.
If you receive rental income and have already paid your taxes, congratulations!
Sincerely".
Civic duty
"If you receive rental income, remember to pay your tax.
"Note that if all residents of Barranco, La Molina, Miraflores, San Isidro, San Borja and Surco pay their rental income taxes, it will be possible to build more than 90 Health Centers in the poorest regions of Peru."
Find out how to declare and pay this type of tax at http://personas.sunat.gob.pe/alquilo-mi-casa-o-auto.
If you receive rental income and have already paid your taxes, congratulations!
Sincerely"
Enforcement
"If you receive rental income, remember to pay your tax.
Note that SUNAT is striving to detect rental income tax debtors. We have already identified 78,000 debtors in Barranco, La Molina, Miraflores, San Isidro, San Borja and Surco.
Find out how to declare and pay this type of tax at http://personas.sunat.gob.pe/alquilo-mi-casa-o-auto.
If you receive rental income and have already paid your taxes, congratulations!
Sincerely"