Does global financial transparency improve tax compliance in developing countries?

Niels Johannesen, Lauge Larsen and Nadine Riedel

No wp-2026-58, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: In a coordinated effort to curb tax evasion, governments systematically exchange information about bank accounts with foreign owners. We study the compliance effects of the policy in the context of South Africa using information reports on one million foreign bank accounts linked to income and audit data. We find that self-reported foreign income increased sharply and persistently at the onset of information exchange, but remained much below the true foreign income implied by the information reports.

Keywords: Transparency; Finance; Tax compliance; Tax evasion; Capital income tax; Information; International taxation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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