Economic and Game Theory
Forum

20 5 10 20 50 100 all
Ask a question about: Applications
Respond to the question: Russian taxpayer compliance?

04/03/2000 11:57 AM by Pedro Dal Bó; Russian taxes

Unfortunately I don't know of papers using game theory to study tax compliance. I would look at the Econlit or Jstor for papers in this issue, something useful may appear! To think about these problems the principal-agent [View full text and thread]

04/01/2000 07:10 AM by Amy; Russian taxpayer compliance and Game Theory

Individual Income Tax Compliance Problems in Post-Soviet Russia is the topic of my seminar research paper. My professor wants me to use basic, seminal economic theory to try to understand WHY there are widespread tax compliance evasion problems in Russia today. I am using Gary Becker's _Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach_ essay as a model to demonstrate the costs and benefits of Russian taxpayer compliance.

I argue that there are several Russia-specific considerations in tax compliance issues that are not usually taken into account in the west, such as WIDESPREAD bribe payments to tax authorities and government officials; hiring "consultants" to maneuver around the many and complex loopholes in the tax code; among other things, like Soviet-era legacies where few individuals needed to file tax forms, as income tax was directly deducted from their pay at work and their "employers" (i.e. state enterprises) handled the payments. In Russia, tax authorities are not taken as seriously as they are in the US. Lax enforcement of the tax code, low probability of prosecution for offenses, and easily manipulated tax officials, by way of bribes, contributes to the problems of taxpayer finance of the government budget.

But then I thought about applying a game theory model, of which I know little about, to look at Russian taxpayer compliance behavior. Is there a "classic" original game theory model? I assume economic game theory has been used to understand taxpayer behavior in the west? Could you recommend any articles so I can compare the differences?

[Manage messages]