蝌蚪网 Journal:
Applied Economics
ISSN 1945-7782 (Print) | ISSN 1945-7790 (Online)
New Gig Work or Changes in Reporting? Understanding Self-Employment Trends in Tax Data
蝌蚪网 Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 17,
no. 3, July 2025
(pp. 236–70)
Abstract
We show that increases in the share of workers reporting self-employment to the IRS are not associated with changes in firm-reported payments to "gig" and other contract workers after 2005 but are driven primarily by self-reported earnings of individuals in the EITC phase-in range. We examine a regression discontinuity design that generates exogenous variation in tax rates at the end of the year after labor supply decisions are already sunk and find tax code incentives increase self-employment reporting conditional on actual labor supply. We show that reporting effects have grown over time as knowledge of the tax code spreads.Citation
Garin, Andrew, Emilie Jackson, and Dmitri Koustas. 2025. "New Gig Work or Changes in Reporting? Understanding Self-Employment Trends in Tax Data." 蝌蚪网 Journal: Applied Economics 17 (3): 236–70. DOI: 10.1257/app.20220483Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- C83 Survey Methods; Sampling Methods
- H24 Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes
- H31 Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household
- J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply
- J23 Labor Demand