Replication data for: Tax Evasion and Inequality

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Annette Alstadsæter; Niels Johannesen; Gabriel Zucman

Version: View help for Version V1

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Project Citation:

Alstadsæter, Annette, Johannesen, Niels, and Zucman, Gabriel. Replication data for: Tax Evasion and Inequality. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2019. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E113205V1

Project Description

Summary: Drawing on a unique dataset of leaked customer lists from offshore financial institutions matched to administrative wealth records in Scandinavia, we show that offshore tax evasion is highly concentrated among the rich. The skewed distribution of offshore wealth implies high rates of tax evasion at the top: we find that the 0.01 percent richest households evade about 25 percent of their taxes. By contrast, tax evasion detected in stratified random tax audits is less than 5 percent throughout the distribution. Top wealth shares increase substantially when accounting for unreported assets, highlighting the importance of factoring in tax evasion to properly measure inequality.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
      H24 Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
      H26 Tax Evasion and Avoidance
      K34 Tax Law

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V1 [2019-10-12]

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