Behavioral Aspects of Tax Amnesties and Their Effects in Twelve Countries

Abstract

This paper overviews the theoretical and empirical research on tax amnesties and weighs their advantages and disadvantages. The paper questions if tax amnesties have any tax compliance impacts in the medium to long term as some papers have claimed or if they are more of a hindrance to tax compliance because of their unjust and degenerating effects. The paper examines the available data for the effects of tax amnesty programs on the ratio of tax revenues to GDP and the Gini coefficient for 12 countries focusing specifically on Turkey. The main aim of the paper is to identify better alternatives to tax amnesties in terms of both tax revenue and tax justice. The results of the study show that while the short-term revenue effect of tax amnesties is uncertain, their medium and long-term negative effects on tax justice and income distribution are almost certain. In addition, the study reveals that improving tax revenue is hardly the main reason behind most tax amnesties.