The Optimal Size of a Tax Collection Agency

Joel Slemrod () and Shlomo Yitzhaki ()

Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 1987, vol. 89, issue 2, pages 183-92

Abstract: The condition that characterizes the optimal size of a tax-collection agency is der ived and then given a simple interpretation in terms of excess burden This paper clarifies an earlier finding of A. Sandmo (1981) which s uggests that the optimal degree of enforcement is higher than a simpl e cost-benefit calculation would indicate. The appropriate condition is that, at the margin, the resource cost of increasing enforcement s hould equal the saving of excess burden due to the decline in exposur e to risk. The increased revenue gained from stricter enforcement doe s not enter the expression because it merely represents a transfer am ong the economy's identical agents. Copyright 1987 by The editors of the Scandinavian Journal of Economics.

Date: 1987
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