How Do Taxpayers Respond to Public Disclosure and Social Recognition Programs? Evidence from Pakistan

Mazhar Waseem, Joel Slemrod, Obeid Ur Rehman

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Abstract

We examine two Pakistani programs to see if the public disclosure of tax information and social recognition of top taxpayers promote tax compliance. Pakistan began revealing income tax paid by all taxpayers from 2012. Simultaneously, another program began recognizing and rewarding the top 100 tax paying corporations, partnerships, self-employed individuals, and wage-earners. We find that the public disclosure caused a 9 log-points and the social recognition program a 17 log-points increase in the tax payments of agents exposed to the program. Our results suggest that such programs can be important policy levers to mobilize additional resources.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-44
Number of pages44
JournalReview of Economics and Statistics
Volume0
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 May 2020

Keywords

  • tax evasion
  • income tax
  • social norms

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