Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/318371 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Paper No. 2025/4
Publisher: 
Freie Universität Berlin, School of Business & Economics, Berlin
Abstract: 
Tax evasion is associated with high social and fiscal costs. To address these, many governments employ behavioral interventions given their low implementation costs and high potential efficiency. Although many studies report positive effects of behavioral interventions to combat tax evasion, the effect sizes are often quite small. This may result from the partial cancellation of heterogeneous effects and prompts calls in the literature for individualized or group-tailored interventions. While classification approaches for taxpayer types exist, their practical implementation is limited by data availability. We systematically review 144 studies conducted between 1996 and 2024 and show that group-tailored interventions along key inequality dimensions-gender, income, age, and regionality-may not only enhance tax compliance but also help address inequality. Furthermore, our heterogeneity analysis shows that intervention effectiveness can be enhanced by the incorporation of specific characteristics related to framing, intervention frequency, and communication channels. Finally, we present a theoretical model to support group-tailored interventions and thus provide policymakers with an efficient strategy to combat tax evasion.
Subjects: 
Tax Compliance
Behavioral Intervention
Heterogeneity
Inequality
JEL: 
H26
D31
D90
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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