Empirical Tax Complexity

• In Event: Tax Complexity and Tax Design

Abstract

Tax law is perennially criticized for its complexity, yet there has been little empirical study linking specific sources of legal complexity to observed taxpayer confusion. This paper takes a novel approach: we scrape and analyze data from the TurboTax Community Forum, in which taxpayers post detailed questions about filing their returns. We identify patterns of confusion and trace them back to statutory text, Treasury regulations, and IRS publications. In doing so, we establish which elements of the underlying law are most confusing to taxpayers and therefore which simplification efforts policymakers should prioritize.

Authors

• Jonathan Choi, University of Southern California

• Ariel Jurow Kleiman, USC Gould School of Law