We develop an optimal tax framework that combines two recent extensions of tax analysis: a tax-systems emphasis on non-rate policy instruments, and a recognition of the role of behavioral biases. Although the implications of taxpayers’ biases for optimal tax rates have received considerable attention, a complete analysis of this aspect of optimal tax theory must account for the fact that such biases are often endogenous to the non-rate aspects of a tax system. We first generalize and extend the analysis of optimal tax systems to incorporate endogenous behavioral biases. We then develop a novel and important application of this issue, showing how misperception of the tax rate affects the optimal breadth of the tax base.

我们开发了一个最佳的税收框架，该框架结合了税收分析的两个最新扩展：税收制度侧重于非利率政策工具，以及对行为偏见作用的认识。尽管纳税人偏向最佳税率的含义已受到相当多的关注，但对最佳税理论的这一方面的完整分析必须说明一个事实，即这种偏见通常是税制非税率方面的内生因素。我们首先对最佳税收制度的分析进行概括和扩展，以纳入内生的行为偏见。然后，我们开发了此问题的新颖且重要的应用程序，展示了对税率的误解如何影响税基的最佳宽度。