扩大税网能得到什么，又得不到什么——来自南非强制纳税人登记的证据

中文摘要

发展中国家有相当大比例的企业未办理所得税登记。扩大税网是许多政府的优先事项，但事实表明，大多数正规化政策在将企业纳入税网方面成效相对有限。利用丰富的税收征管数据，我们记录了南非企业税务登记名册与商业登记名册的快照同步如何使该国企业纳税人税网大规模扩张。尽管目标企业是非正规部门中一个有价值的群体，但我们发现，这些企业登记后的税收遵从度较弱，实际缴税的企业很少。不过，由于税网扩张规模较大，税收收入的总体增量仍不可忽视，且这些干预措施在财政上具有成本效益。在补充分析中，我们提供了执法溢出效应的证据：在大量企业被纳入税网的地区，登记名册快照同步后，按时办理税务登记的遵从度显著提高。我们未发现商业登记名册中的登记数量出现下降的迹象。 • 我们研究南非企业税务登记名册与商业登记名册的同步。 • 这些干预措施显著扩大了南非企业纳税人税网。 • 被强制登记的企业在登记后的遵从度较弱。 • 不过，税收收入的总体增量仍不可忽视。 • 干预措施实施后，按时办理税务登记的遵从度显著提高。

Abstract

A significant share of firms in developing countries is not registered for income taxation. Expanding the tax net is a priority for many governments, but most formalization policies proved relatively ineffective in bringing firms into the tax net. Drawing on rich tax administrative data, we document that snapshot-synchronizations of the business tax and the commercial registry in South Africa led to a large-scale expansion of the South African business taxpayer net. While the targeted firms are a valuable segment within the non-formal sector, we show that their post-registration tax compliance is weak and few of them pay taxes. Owing to the large scope of the tax net expansion, the aggregate revenue gains are, nevertheless, non-negligible and the interventions are fiscally cost-effective. In additional analyses, we provide evidence for enforcement spillovers: In areas where many firms were drawn into the tax net, tax registration timing compliance significantly improved after the snapshot synchronizations. We find no indication of a drop in registration numbers at the commercial registry. • We study synchronizations of business tax and commercial registry in South Africa. • The interventions significantly expanded the South African business taxpayer net. • Post-registration compliance of forcedly-registered firms is weak. • Aggregate revenue gains are, nevertheless, non-negligible. • Tax registration timing compliance significantly improved after the inventions.