Tax Evasion and Inequality

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2019
Volume: 109
Issue: 6
Pages: 2073-2103

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

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.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:109:y:2019:i:6:p:2073-2103
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-24