U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Skip Header


Self-Employment Income Reporting on Surveys

Written by:
Working Paper Number CES-23-19

Abstract

We examine the relation between administrative income data and survey reports for self-employed and wage-earning respondents from 2000 - 2015. The self-employed report 40 percent more wages and self-employment income in the survey than in tax administrative records; this estimate nets out differences between these two sources that are also shared by wage-earners. We provide evidence that differential reporting incentives are an important explanation of the larger self-employed gap by exploiting a well-known artifact – self-employed respondents exhibit substantial bunching at the first EITC kink in their administrative records. We do not observe the same behavior in their survey responses even after accounting for survey measurement concerns.

Page Last Revised - April 24, 2023
Is this page helpful?
Thumbs Up Image Yes Thumbs Down Image No
NO THANKS
255 characters maximum 255 characters maximum reached
Thank you for your feedback.
Comments or suggestions?

Top

Back to Header