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Applying Behavioral Insights to Improve Tax Compliance in Papua New Guinea

Last registered on April 01, 2019
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Applying Behavioral Insights to Boost Tax Compliance in Papua New Guinea
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004056
Initial registration date
March 26, 2019

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
March 31, 2019, 11:08 PM EDT

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

Last updated
April 01, 2019, 6:32 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Papua New Guinea
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Christopher Hoy
Affiliation
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Mathias Sinning
PI Affiliation
Australian National University
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2019-03-27
End date
2019-12-28
Keywords
Firms & Productivity, Governance, Other
Additional Keywords
Public Finance
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
This is a study about boosting tax compliance by using behavioral Insights in Papua New Guinea
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hoy, Christopher and Mathias Sinning. 2019. "Applying Behavioral Insights to Boost Tax Compliance in Papua New Guinea." AEA RCT Registry. April 01. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4056-2.0
Former Citation
Hoy, Christopher and Mathias Sinning. 2019. "Applying Behavioral Insights to Boost Tax Compliance in Papua New Guinea." AEA RCT Registry. April 01. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/4056/history/44523
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
There are two types of interventions we examine. Firstly, we will test the effect of two types of SMS messages. Secondly, we test the effect of adding a flyer to letters from the tax authority that is designed to encourage tax payers to pay their taxes.
Intervention Start Date
2019-03-28
Intervention End Date
2019-08-28

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
The main outcomes of interest are:

Timing of Salaries and Wages Tax lodgement
Number of times Salaries and Wages Tax was lodged
Amount of Salaries and Wages Tax paid
Total payment of Salaries and Wages
Number of employees reported by tax payers
Timing of Goods and Services Tax lodgement
Number of Goods and Services Tax was lodged
Amount of Goods and Services Tax paid
Gross Income reported by tax payer
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The impact of the interventions will be determined by conducting two cross-sectional randomized control trials at the individual level.

The outcome data will be collected by the tax authority in Papua New Guinea.


Experimental Design Details
In the first trial, we focus on all taxpayers who have a valid mobile phone number registered with the tax authority in Papua New Guinea and who are registered for both Salaries and Wages Tax (SWT) and Goods and Services Tax (GST). This group consists of around 25,000 taxpayers that will be randomly divided so that one third of them will receive one type of SMS message (Treatment A), one third receive a different SMS message (Treatment B) and the remaining third will not receive an SMS message (Control).

In the second trial, we focus on taxpayers who are due to receive a letter for not submitting a tax return for SWT or GST. Half of these taxpayers will receive a flyer (in addition to the letter) that is designed to encourage them to pay their taxes.
Randomization Method
For the first trial, a list of the population of tax payers registered to pay SWT and GST was provided by the tax authority. Tax payers were randomly assigned to Treatment Group A, Treatment Group B and to the Control Group using STATA.

For the second trial, a list of the population of tax payers who missed the deadline for lodging taxes in the previous month were randomly divided based upon whether the last digit of their tax identification number is an odd or even number.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
In the first trial, there are around 25,000 tax payers. In the second trial, it is expected there will be around 3,000 to 4,000 tax payers.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
In the first trial, there are around 8,000 tax payers in each group.

In the second trial, there will be around 1,500 to 2,000 tax payers.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Australian National University Asia Pacific Delegated Ethics Review Committee
IRB Approval Date
2019-02-18
IRB Approval Number
2019/006 and 2019/005
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials