BETA partnered with the Australian Tax Office to design and test behaviourally informed methods of communications aimed at improving compliance among businesses in the Deferred GST Scheme.
We ran two separate randomised controlled trials to test the effectiveness of emails.
The first trial evaluated the impact of sending a ‘cooperative’ and a ‘direct’ toned reminder email to existing businesses who were found to be non-compliant with the Scheme. Both emails improved compliance rates.
The second trial tested the effectiveness of sending a welcome email to new businesses who had just registered for the Scheme. The email contained a planning prompt recommending businesses set up a monthly calendar reminder about their DGST obligations. This intervention did not improve compliance.
Pre-registration information
The Deferred GST scheme allows businesses to defer the payment of GST on taxable imports to help manage their cash flow position. In order to remain on the scheme businesses must continue to meet all of their tax obligations. This includes lodging a monthly activity statement and being up to date on any payments due to the ATO.
At any given time, a proportion of businesses on the scheme are non‑compliant. Addressing this non-compliance creates additional work for the ATO and leads to higher levels of outstanding tax debt.
This trial will test a new behaviourally-informed method of communication aimed at helping businesses remain up to date with their tax. The intervention will target new businesses signing onto the scheme as well as businesses that are already non-compliant. A successful intervention would increase business compliance and bring forward business tax payments.