Decisions about paying taxes represent one of the most common moral quandaries faced by citizens. In the present research, we argue that taxpayer compliance can be raised by increasing “voice”: allowing taxpayers to express non-binding preferences about the way their taxes are used. We first test for effects of preference expression on tax compliance with a tax in a laboratory setting. Here, we find that allowing participants to express non-binding preferences over tax spending priorities leads to a 16% increase in compliance. A follow-up online study tests this treatment with a simulation of paying US federal taxes. Allowing taxpayers to express their preferences on the distribution of government spending reduces the stated take-up rate of a questionable tax loophole by 15%. A third experiment shows that this effect only occurs when taxpayers have voice in spending on preferred tax categories; allocating tax dollars across disliked spending categories increased neither feelings of voice nor likelihood of payment.
