@article{d1efe8a7b36e4bf38c5cb93ba4316d97,
title = "Transaction-tax evasion in the housing market",
abstract = "We model the behaviour of a mortgagor considering to evade the real estate transfer tax. We build an observable measure of over-appraisal that is inversely related to tax evasion and conclude that the tax authority could focus auditing efforts on low-appraisal transactions. Our empirical analysis confirms the predictions using a unique database for Spain, where we directly observe: real payment, value declared to the authority and appraisal. We also argue that individual characteristics (e.g. education of the buyer) and local characteristics (e.g. local levels of corruption and trust) explain part of the observed heterogeneity in evasion. The theoretical model is augmented with guilt and stigma to be consistent with the observed heterogeneity.",
keywords = "Appraisal, Housing market, Loan-to-value, Mortgage, Tax evasion, Tax-morale, Transfer tax",
author = "Montalvo, {Jos{\'e} G.} and Amedeo Piolatto and Josep Raya",
note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank the Associate Editor and the two referees for their useful comments and suggestions. We also thank Mariona Mas, Dirk Foremny and participants in several Workshops and conferences for their constructive feedback. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness ( Montalvo: ECO2017-82696P , Piolatto: PGC2018-094348 ; Raya: ECO2016-78816R ), the Government of Catalonia ( Montalvo: ICREA-Academia and SGR2017-616 ; Piolatto: 2017SGR711 ), the Programa Ram{\'o}n y Cajal ( Piolatto: RYC-2016-19371 ), the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness ( Montalvo and Piolatto: SEV-2015-0563 ) and the Barcelona GSE. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier B.V. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",
year = "2020",
month = mar,
doi = "10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2020.103526",
language = "English",
volume = "81",
}