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Measuring the Invisible: An Overview of and Outlook for Tax Non-Compliance Estimates and Measurement Methods for Switzerland

Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics volume 152, pages 125–177 (2016)Cite this article

Summary

This paper gives an overview of tax non-compliance estimates and evaluates the suitability of various tax non-compliance measurement methods for Switzerland. The existing estimates for Switzerland focus strongly on non-declared assets and are based on a limited number of measurement methods. Nevertheless, the estimates range widely, between CHF 106 to over 500 billion for non-declared assets and 12.6 to 35.1 percent for income, for the time period 1970 to today. These estimates could be taken as a starting point for further tax non-compliance research. They should however be verified and supplemented by estimates resulting from other methods as a solid measurement of tax non-compliance requires a comprehensive approach including several methods. Further, the focus should shift from non-declared assets towards non-declared income.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, University of Lucerne, Frohburgstrasse 3, PO Box 4466, 6002, Lucerne, Switzerland

    Felix Schmutz

  2. Lucerne School of Business, Institute of Financial Services Zug (IFZ), Grafenauweg 10, PO Box 4332, 6304, Zug, Switzerland

    Felix Schmutz

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Correspondence to Felix Schmutz.

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This paper is part of a doctoral thesis of Felix Schmutz at the University of Lucerne. Many thanks to Prof. Christoph Schaltegger, Prof. Rafael Lalive and two anonymous referees for their valuable input and comments.

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Schmutz, F. Measuring the Invisible: An Overview of and Outlook for Tax Non-Compliance Estimates and Measurement Methods for Switzerland. Swiss J Economics Statistics 152, 125–177 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03399425

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