Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name:Matias Giaccobasso 
Author-Name-First: Matias
Author-Name-Last: Giaccobasso
Author-Email: Matias.Giaccobasso@vatt.fi
Author-Workplace-Name: VATT Institute for Economic Research
Author-Name: Brad Nathan
Author-Name-First: Brad
Author-Name-Last: Nathan
Author-Email: brad.nathan@rutgers.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: Rutgers University
Author-Name: Ricardo Perez-Truglia
Author-Name-First: Ricardo
Author-Name-Last: Perez-Truglia
Author-Email: ricardo.truglia@anderson.ucla.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: University of California, Los Angeles
Author-Name: Alejandro Zentner
Author-Name-First: Alejandro
Author-Name-Last: Zentner
Author-Email: azentner@utdallas.edu
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Texas at Dallas 
Title: Where Do My Tax Dollars Go? Tax Morale Effects of Perceived Government Spending
Abstract: 
Do perceptions about government spending affect willingness to pay taxes? We test this hypothesis with a natural field experiment that focuses on the allocation of property taxes to public schools. Our results show that taxpayers often misperceive the destination of their tax dollars. By introducing shocks to households’ perceptions via an information-provision experiment, we find that perceptions of how tax dollars are used significantly affect the probability of filing a tax appeal. Moreover, the effects are consistent with reciprocal motivations: individuals are more willing to pay taxes if they believe that the government services funded by those taxes will provide greater personal benefit.
Length: 179
Creation-Date: 2024-02
Publication-Status: Published in FIT Working Paper Series, Finnish Center of Excellence in Tax Systems Research
File-URL: https://verotutkimus.fi/verotutkimus/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/FIT-WP-28-Where-do-my-tax-dollars-go-3.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: First version, 2024
Number: 28
Classification-JEL:C93, H26, I22, K34, K42, Z13 
Keywords: taxes, protest, public services, education, redistribution
Handle: RePEc:fit:wpaper:28