Abstract.
With data gained from a controlled field experiment in Switzerland this paper analyses the effects of moral suasion on the timely paying and the timely filling out of the tax form 2001. Comparisons of different tax filing years and multiple regression estimations have been done using these two factors as dependent variables to check if there is a significant difference between the control group and the treatment group. In February 2002 the treatment group received a letter signed by the commune’s fiscal commissioner containing normative appeals. Results indicate that moral suasion has hardly any effect on taxpayers’ compliance behaviour. The strongest effect can be observed for the variable tax payments.
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Received: February 2003, Accepted: June 2004
JEL Classification:
H260, H710
BennoTorgler: Special thanks are due to the tax administration of Trimbach, especially to Adolf Müller and Gary Bitterli, who offered me the opportunity to collect the data and assisted the project. Furthermore I acknowledge the financial support of the WWZ-Forum and Swiss National Science Foundation and comments and suggestions from Doris Aebi, René L. Frey, the editor Kai A. Konrad and two anonymous referees.
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Torgler, B. Moral suasion: An alternative tax policy strategy? Evidence from a controlled field experiment in Switzerland. Economics of Governance 5, 235–253 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10101-004-0077-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10101-004-0077-7