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  3. Journal of Economic Literature
  4. December 2019
  5. Tax Compliance and Enforcement

Journal of Economic Literature

ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)

Tax Compliance and Enforcement

  • Joel Slemrod
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 57, no. 4, December 2019
(pp. 904–54)
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Abstract

This paper reviews recent economic research in tax compliance and enforcement. After briefly laying out the economics of tax evasion, it focuses on recent empirical contributions. It first discusses what methodologies and data have facilitated these contributions, and then presents critical summaries of what has been learned. It discusses a promising new development—the analysis of randomized controlled trials mostly delivered via letters from the tax authority—and then reviews recent research using various methods about the impact of the principal enforcement tax policy instruments: audits, information reporting, and remittance regimes. I also explore several understudied issues worthy of more research attention. The paper closes by outlining a normative framework based on the behavioral response elasticities now being credibly estimated that allow one to assess whether a given enforcement intervention is worth doing.

Citation

Slemrod, Joel. 2019. "Tax Compliance and Enforcement." Journal of Economic Literature, 57 (4): 904–54. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20181437

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • H26 Tax Evasion and Avoidance
  • H30 Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: General