Tax Knowledge in Equilibrium: Evidence from an Education Program in Ghana

A property tax experiment in Ghana randomly provides tax education to property owners and officials. The intervention raises tax knowledge and generates spillovers to untreated households through conversations with more knowledgeable neighbors but has no ultimate impact on tax payments. Educated taxpayers and officials become more engaged in their interactions, but do not shift toward collaborative relationships. Taxpayers revise downward their beliefs about enforcement capacity and become more aware of legal ways to reduce their tax burden. These results highlight that tax knowledge spreads through social networks, and that its effects on tax outcomes are mediated by its ability to shape citizen–state interactions.