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International competitiveness

behavioural economics

Tax doesn’t have to be taxing

Can nudge theory increase tax payments? Steven Proud discusses recently published research from the Behavioural Insight Team to investigate

How do you get people to pay their taxes? Historically, economists have modelled taxpayers’ behaviour by examining penalties for failure to pay taxes. If you have some probability (p) of being detected of tax evasion, and some monetary fine for doing so, then simple economic models suggest that people will reduce their likelihood of evading taxes if the fine is increased, or if the probability of getting caught is increased.

In terms of getting taxpayers to pay on time, HM Revenue and Customs has used fines as a punishment for paying tax late, with the fine increasing depending on how late the payment is made.

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International competitiveness