Does giving tax debtors a break improve compliance and income? Evidence from quasi‐random assignment of IRS Revenue Officers
利用IRS税务官员准随机分配作为工具变量，研究发现暂停追债并未显著降低未来纳税合规性或收入，反而在边际困难案例中增加了配偶的工资收入。
Abstract This paper uses the quasi‐random assignment of IRS Revenue Officers to tax debtors' cases as an instrumental variable to identify the causal effects of suspending debt collection on tax compliance and future income. In contrast to uninstrumented estimates, we find no statistically significant evidence that putting off attempts to collect debt reduces compliance with future tax obligations or future reported income. Among marginal hardship cases, pausing collection instead increases future income, specifically wage earnings by the taxpayer's spouse. In addition, we address concerns about potential non‐random assignment of Revenue Officers.