The Minnesota income tax compliance experiment: State tax results

Stephen Coleman

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This report describes the Minnesota Income Tax Compliance Experiment conducted by the Minnesota Department of Revenue in 1995. The experiment tested alternative strategies to improve voluntary compliance with the state income tax. These strategies included: increased examination and auditing of tax returns with prior notice to taxpayers, enhanced services to taxpayers, information messages in letters sent to taxpayers, and a new M-1 tax form. About 47,000 taxpayers participated in the experiment. They were selected by random chance for the compliance strategies. The primary measures used to evaluate compliance strategies were change in reported income and change in reported state taxes paid from (tax year) 1993 to 1994. Changes in taxpayer groups subject to a compliance strategy were compared to changes in similar groups of taxpayes who were unaffected by the experiment (control groups).

Keywords: tax compliance; economic experiment; social norms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 H2 H26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996-04
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:4827

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