Recently, gay and lesbian couples have gone to court to force the government to allow same-sex couples to marry. Largely unnoticed during the debates surrounding same-sex marriages are their economic consequences, including the impact on government tax collections. It is well-known that a...

The rapid growth in online commerce has eroded state sales tax bases. However, the extent of this reduction is difficult to estimate. In this paper we collect our own data from eBay.com on a “representative” commodity classification and a “typical” day. Our data consist of nearly 21,000...

Uses experimental methods to analyze the long run impact of an amnesty. Explains post-amnesy compliance is higher when an amnesty is accompanied by increased enforcement efforts than when enforcement increases without an amnesty.

“Behavioral economics,” or the application of methods and evidence from other social sciences to economics, has increased greatly in significance in the last two decades. An important method by which many of its predictions have been tested has been via laboratory experiments. In this paper...

Discusses time series methods that can be used to examine the long run effects of a tax amnesty, and applies these methods to the 1985 Colorado amnesty. Suggests that a typical amnesty seems unlikely to generate significant new revenues, but also seems unlikely to compromise voluntary compliance.

The standard assumption underlying the incidence of tax evasion is that the beneficiaries are those who successfully evade their taxes. However, a general equilibrium process of adjustment should occur in response to tax evasion, involving changes in the relative prices of both commodities and...

This paper examines the process by which firms are selected for a sales tax audit and the determinants of subsequent firm compliance behavior, focusing upon the Gross Receipts Tax in New Mexico. A two–stage selection model is used to estimate the State’s audit selection rule and, conditional...

This paper examines the twin issues of spatiality and persistence in the individual income tax evasion decision. The issue of persistence arises through accumulated learning over time; spatiality arises for several reasons, including the exchange of information between taxpayers, the social norm...

Argues that previous attempts to derive an "optimal tax system" are largely irrelevant to practical tax design, because they typically ignore a range of considerations reflecting fiscal and societal institutions that are essential elements in the normative and positive analysis of taxation.

This article compares the effects of the standard fixed-payment mortgage instrument (SMI) and the graduated-payment mortgage instrument on an individual's housing decisions in an inflationary environment. Using a simulation model of life-cycle consumer choice, the results with the SMI suggest...