Estimating tax noncompliance among the self-employed: evidence from pleasure boat registers
2023 (English)In: Small Business Economics, ISSN 0921-898X, E-ISSN 1573-0913, Vol. 61, p. 1747-1771Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
We improve upon the Pissarides-Weber method for estimating tax evasion among the self-employed by utilizing unique register-based consumption measures from the Swedish and Finnish mandatory registers for pleasure boats. This allows for more detailed and statistically powered analyses than survey-based applications. Our results indicate overall levels of hidden incomes that are in line with previous studies. However, the functional form analysis shows that the estimated sizes of underreporting in absolute monetary amounts are almost constant over reported income levels, whereas previous studies have assumed that the underreporting is proportional to income. The results from the preference analysis—in which we compare households that will become self-employed in the near future with households that will remain wage earners—are mixed; the two types of households have insignificant (Finland) or economically small (Sweden) preference differences. However, when we use engine power as a price proxy, the preference differences are larger in both countries.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer, 2023. Vol. 61, p. 1747-1771
Keywords [en]
Engel curve, Income underreporting, Pleasure boats, Register data, Self-employment, Tax noncompliance
National Category
Economics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-60166DOI: 10.1007/s11187-023-00749-3ISI: 000963717800003Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85151549581Local ID: HOA;;875761OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-60166DiVA, id: diva2:1751263
Note
We are grateful to Spencer Bastani, Janya Hamaaki, Julie Brun Bjørkheim, and seminar participants at IIPF 2020, Jönköping University, University of Turku, the Finnish Tax Administration, and the Swedish Tax Agency, and two anonymous referees and the editor (Thomas Åstebro) for helpful comments. We acknowledge financial support from the Nordic Tax Research Council and Stiftelsen Inger, Arne och Astrid Oscarssons Donationsfond.
2023-04-172023-04-172024-01-15Bibliographically approved