Plausibly Exogenous [1891] - Tax Compliance (04/07/2025)

LHS Variable
Tax compliance

RHS Variable
Statutory auditors

Source of Exogenous Variation
In 2011, the Greek state enacted Directive 1159 with an immediate implementation. All Greek firms that fulfilled specific criteria would be subject to tax audits performed by statutory auditors who also audit firms’ financial statements. Therefore, for the first time, the tax returns of a large number of Greek firms were audited by external auditors on a precautionary basis before their submission to tax authorities. Auditors were eligible to issue a TCR that assured a firm’s tax compliance with official tax rules.

- Daskalaki and Karampinis (2023), “Statutory Auditors and Tax Compliance: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment”