The impact of third-party reporting on tax compliance: Evidence from gig workers

The rise of platform gig work in recent years has meant more workers have self-employment earnings, which are not subject to tax withholding but generally covered by information reporting on 1099 returns. In 2017, many gig workers suddenly and unexpectedly stopped receiving a 1099 for their work activity, providing an opportunity to study the impact of third-party reporting on tax compliance for gig workers. We first exploit exogenous variation in receiving a 1099 information return using a border-county design in two states where all workers continued to receive a 1099. We find no impact of receiving a 1099 on whether one files a tax return, but find that each dollar reported on a 1099-K increases self-reported profits by 17 cents. We then use the state-level filings to impute the size of the national online platform workforce in 2017 and 2018. We estimate that 770,000 gig workers did not receive information returns due to the change in third-party reporting practices by online platforms and that $560 million in profits went unreported on income tax filings as a result.