The Minnesota Income Tax Compliance Experiment: Replication of the Social Norms Experiment

6 Pages Posted: 22 Apr 2009

See all articles by Stephen Coleman

Stephen Coleman

Metropolitan State University (retired)

Date Written: November 1, 2007

Abstract

This reports the results of a follow-up experiment conducted to validate an earlier experiment showing that if taxpayers overestimate the prevalence of tax evasion, their compliance can be increased by informing them about the true rate of cheating. Tax compliance, therefore, is influenced partly by social conformity with perceived social norms. The experiments were done by the Minnesota Department of Revenue in 1995 and 1996, but only the first experiment has been publicly reported to date (Coleman, 1996).

Keywords: income tax, tax compliance, social norms, social conformity, experiment, Minnesota

JEL Classification: C12, C33, C93, H20, H26

Suggested Citation

Coleman, Stephen, The Minnesota Income Tax Compliance Experiment: Replication of the Social Norms Experiment (November 1, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1393292 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1393292

Stephen Coleman (Contact Author)

Metropolitan State University (retired) ( email )

St. Paul, MN 55108
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.populardelusions.org

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