Do Think Twice, it´s All Right: Effects and Mechanisms of Tax Enforcement Policies

Last registered on August 18, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Do Think Twice, it´s All Right: Effects and Mechanisms of Tax Enforcement Policies
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004817
Initial registration date
October 03, 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
October 04, 2019, 11:41 AM EDT

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

Last updated
August 18, 2022, 2:42 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Norway
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Andreas Kotsadam
Affiliation
University of Oslo
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2018-05-15
End date
2022-08-31
Keywords
Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Finance & Microfinance, Governance
Additional Keywords
Tax Enforcement
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial is based on or builds upon one or more prior RCTs.
Abstract
We compare the tax compliance effects of two different tax enforcement policies, a relatively costly desk/correspondence audit and a cheap information treatment with a letter asking filers with “risky” filing behavior to take a second look at their tax returns. To assess the total effect of these enforcement policies, we need to take account of both their immediate effects and their long term effects on future filing behaviour. Audits will detect and correct non-compliance on the spot, but may also change subsequent filing behavior. A letter will not disclose non-compliance, but (some) taxpayers may adjust their filings. A letter may also have long term effects on tax compliance. Based on the short run effects of both treatments, which are easy to measure, we describe how we will test the behavioural effects on future filing. We describe the intervention and lay out some important decisions with respect to coding of variables, definitions of samples and the empirical strategy we will apply.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Kotsadam, Andreas. 2022. "Do Think Twice, it´s All Right: Effects and Mechanisms of Tax Enforcement Policies." AEA RCT Registry. August 18. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4817-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We work together with the Norwegian National Tax Authorities to compare the effectiveness of these two enforcement policies; a desk based correspondence audit and a “take a second look” letter.
Intervention Start Date
2018-05-31
Intervention End Date
2019-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Claimed deductions for tax year 2018 (in NOK)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Partner's claimed deductions for the tax year 2018 (in NOK) and Subjective Detection Risk
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Randomly assigned audits and letters
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
In office by a computer
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
12,495 individuals
Sample size: planned number of observations
12,495 individuals
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
12,495 individuals
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
MDE for the main outcome after multiple testing adjustment with 80 % power and a 5 % significance level: 0.07 standard deviations
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

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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