Honest women workers pay more tax than men, study finds

BRINGING more women into work should be prioritised over tackling tax evasion, scientists have said, after they found men are less likely to pay up.

A study of almost 1,500 people in the US, UK, Sweden and Italy found men under-report their income, while women are more honest. It revealed that men are more willing to contribute their full share of tax when they are informed what their money pays for.

Researchers say tackling the gender pay gap and increasing women’s participation in the workforce could be more effective at increasing tax revenue than focusing on tax evasion.

The study, published in the Journal of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, involved tests to gauge attitudes about paying tax among people who self-report their income.

Dr John D’attoma, from the University of Exeter Business School, said: “We have found robust evidence that tax compliance is greater for women than men. But men are more responsive to the incentives attached to paying taxes.

“Women are compliant even when they do not expect anything in return, and we had this result in every country where we ran the experiment.

“This shows that equal pay and measures to bring more women into the labour market could really have an impact in shrinking the tax gap.”

Researchers conducted a laboratory experiment where groups of people in each country performed a mock clerical task. This entitled them to “earn” a small amount of money.

They were then asked to self-report their “income” so the tax they had to pay could be calculated and collected.

Participants were told that there was a five per cent chance their earnings would be audited, and if they were caught cheating they would have to pay a financial penalty. Women in the UK reported 48 per cent of their income, while men reported 23 per cent. In the US, women reported 66 per cent and men 50 per cent.