Non‐monetary sanctions as tax enforcement tools: Evaluating California's top 500 program
利用加州“前500名”项目的行政税收微观数据，研究警告纳税人个人信息即将公开和可能吊销执照的通知如何影响支付及其他合规行为，发现非货币制裁能有效促进高收入群体的税收遵从。
Abstract Many U.S. states and countries around the world use non‐monetary sanctions, including public disclosure, license suspension, and withholding of other government‐provided benefits or privileges, to encourage tax compliance. Little is known about the effectiveness of these programs. Using administrative tax microdata from California's “Top 500” program, we study whether notices warning of the imminent publication of a taxpayer's personal information and potential license suspension affect payment and other compliance outcomes. Exploiting variation over time in the cutoff balance for program eligibility, we find evidence of strong positive compliance responses to the program. We also develop estimates of the long‐run revenue and social‐welfare effects of the program. Together, these results suggest that non‐monetary sanctions can be efficient tax enforcement tools, at least among the relatively high‐income population we study.