American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Tax Compliance in the Rental Housing Market: Evidence from a Field Experiment
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
(pp. 181–211)
Abstract
We study rental income tax compliance using novel third-party information and a large-scale randomized field experiment. The third-party information combines register data on the ownership and occupancy of apartments. The RCT used this new third-party information in the targeting and design of experimental treatments, and increased the propensity to report rental income and the amount of reported rental income net of expenses. Our research design also allows us to identify members of ownership networks and analyze spillover effects in tax enforcement between them. We find positive reporting spillovers. We do not find evidence of real effects on asset market transactions.Citation
Eerola, Essi, Tuomas Kosonen, Kaisa Kotakorpi, and Teemu Lyytikäinen. 2026. "Tax Compliance in the Rental Housing Market: Evidence from a Field Experiment." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 18 (2): 181–211. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230414Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- C93 Field Experiments
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- H26 Tax Evasion and Avoidance
- K34 Tax Law
- R31 Housing Supply and Markets