Teaching the Tax Code: Earnings Responses to an Experiment with EITC Recipients

Raj Chetty and Emmanuel Saez

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2013, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-31

Abstract: We conducted a randomized experiment with 43,000 EITC recipients at H&R Block. Tax preparers gave simple, personalized information about the EITC schedule to half of their clients. We find no significant effects of information provision on earnings in the subsequent year in the full sample. Further exploration uncovers evidence of heterogeneous treatment effects on both self-employment income and wage earnings across the 1,461 tax preparers involved in the experiment. Providing information about tax incentives does not systematically effect earnings on average. However, tax preparers may influence their clients' earnings decisions by providing advice about how to respond to tax incentives. (JEL H23, H24, H26, J23, J31)

JEL-codes: H23 H24 H26 J23 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.5.1.1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (211)

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Working Paper: Teaching the Tax Code: Earnings Responses to an Experiment with EITC Recipients (2009)
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