Social Cognition
Income Reporting Task
Also called: tax compliance task, income declaration task, tax reporting experiment
Measure the share of earned points reported at two audit chances. Participants earn points, report income and see the deductions, with tax or neutral wording.
6-8 minTimed: desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Try it here first, with no account.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 29
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 0
Report your points
75Tax
22.5
What it measures
Participants earn points and report their income under stated deduction, audit and fine rules. Measures the share reported at two audit chances.
Constructs
- Income reporting
- Responses to audit probability
- Decisions under incentives
Research uses
- Behavioral economics research
- Tax-compliance experiments
- Framing and incentive studies
How the paradigm works
The Income Reporting Task measures the share of earned income reported when reported points are taxed and reports may be audited. Participants first earn points by solving addition problems, then choose an amount from zero to their actual earnings. The audit chance is shown before each report. An audit detects all unreported income and collects the missing tax plus an additional fine. This separates earned income, the report and enforcement, as in experimental tax-compliance methods.
More about the paradigm
The standard session has six 30-second work rounds with two generated two-digit numbers per sum and 10 points per correct answer. Tax is 30%, the audit chance is 10% or 50%, and the additional fine is twice the unpaid tax. Three rounds use each chance in a seeded random order. Each audit uses an independent random draw; the number audited is not fixed. Points retained in a round cannot fall below zero. A 15-second practice and one rule check come first. Studies can change the number and length of rounds, points, rate, both audit chances and fine. Neutral wording substitutes deduction, check and extra deduction while preserving the calculations.
Scores
- Reported Income Sharescore
- Mean reported income divided by earned income over rounds with positive earnings.
- Describes reporting under the study rules
- Reported Share at Lower Audit Chancescore
- Mean reported share at the lower audit chance.
- Compare with the higher-chance condition
- Reported Share at Higher Audit Chancescore
- Mean reported share at the higher audit chance.
- Compare with the lower-chance condition
- Audit Chance Differencescore
- Higher-chance share minus lower-chance share; null when chances are equal.
- Positive means more income reported at the higher chance
- Full Report Ratescore
- Share of positive-income rounds reporting all earnings.
- Descriptive
- Earned Pointspoints
- Total points earned on the addition rounds.
- Before deductions
- Reported Pointspoints
- Sum of reported income.
- Descriptive
- Points Keptpoints
- Total points after deductions and any fine.
- Descriptive
- Audited Roundscount
- Rounds selected for audit by their independent seeded draws.
- Includes zero-income rounds
- Zero-Income Roundscount
- Rounds with no earned points.
- Excluded from reported-share measures
- Median Report Timems
- Median reporting time on positive-income rounds, excluding responses under 100 ms.
- Includes reading and setting the amount
- Anticipationscount
- Reports under 100 ms on positive-income rounds.
- Inspect before interpretation
- Rounds Completedcount
- Completed reports, including zero-income rounds.
- Compare with planned rounds
- Rule Check Correctscore
- 1 for a correct rule check, 0 otherwise.
- Review an incorrect answer
Use and evidence
29 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 17% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 443 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 |
| 2024 | 6 |
| 2023 | 2 |
| 2022 | 6 |
| 2021 | 8 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2018 | 9 |
| 2017 | 7 |
| 2016 | 6 |
| 2015 | 8 |
| 2014 | 8 |
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2012 | 4 |
| 2011 | 5 |
| 2010 | 2 |
| 2009 | 3 |
| 2008 | 2 |
| 2007 | 4 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2004 | 2 |
| 2003 | 2 |
| 2002 | 1 |
| 2001 | 3 |
| 2000 | 0 |
Use grade E
Fewer than 30 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 0
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 9
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 0
Measured on ConductCognition
Pooled across the studies that feed our platform norms, by device group. A figure needs 50 or more people.
No pooled figure yet.
How the grades work
Use: A is 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025, B 300 to 999, C 100 to 299, D 30 to 99 and E fewer than 30. Evidence: A means at least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome; B, at least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers; C, at least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies; D, little published measurement evidence found. The counts measure use. They include every paper that names the task in its title or abstract. Grades describe the published research on this task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 10 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Work
- Six rounds of 30 seconds adding two generated two-digit numbers; 10 points per correct answer. Settings allow 4 to 12 even rounds, 15 to 60 seconds and 1 to 100 points.
- Reporting
- Report any whole amount from zero to earned income. A 30% tax applies to the report. The screen shows earned income, the reported amount and the tax.
- Audits
- Half the rounds have a 10% audit chance and half 50%, in seeded random order. An independent draw decides each audit. An audit detects all unreported income.
- Fine
- Recover unpaid tax and add a fine of twice that unpaid tax. Points kept in a round cannot fall below zero. Settings allow 0% to 50% tax, 0% to 100% audit chance and an additional fine from zero to three times unpaid tax.
- Wording
- Tax, audit and fine by default; deduction, check and extra deduction in neutral wording. The point rules stay the same.
- Practice and scoring
- 15 seconds of practice and a rule check. Mean reported shares exclude zero-income rounds. The audit-chance difference is null when the two chances are equal.
The addition items, point schedules and wording are original. This version has no public-good return or linked reports from other participants. Keyboard speed affects earnings; the report is a research measure.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: income reports in the selected run. Reported amounts have no chance accuracy threshold, and identical reports are accepted. Zero-income rounds have no reported share. Incomplete runs, zero-income rounds and a wrong rule check are flagged for review. Reports under 200 ms on at least half the positive-income rounds invalidate.
Why these rules
The outcome is the share of earned income reported under stated rules, not a judgment of the person. Zero earnings leave no income to report; very fast reports may not reflect reading the current rules.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds | 6 | 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 |
| Work per round (seconds) | 30 | 15 to 60 |
| Points per correct answer | 10 | 1 to 100 |
| Tax or deduction (%) | 30 | 0 to 50 |
| Lower audit chance (%) | 10 | 0 to 100 |
| Higher audit chance (%) | 50 | 0 to 100 |
| Fine per unpaid tax point | 2 | 0 to 3 |
| Wording | Tax, audit and fine | Tax, audit and fine, Deduction, check and extra deduction |
Yearly plans can change settings within these limits. Free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. Participant devices
- Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- No percentile. Scores and quality flags only. How norms work
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Income Reporting Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Alm, McClelland & Schulze, 1992), with the standard settings (rounds: 6; work per round (seconds): 30; points per correct answer: 10; tax or deduction (%): 30; lower audit chance (%): 10; higher audit chance (%): 50; fine per unpaid tax point: 2; wording: Tax, audit and fine). The main score was reported income share (mean reported income divided by earned income over rounds with positive earnings).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Alm, J., McClelland, G. H., & Schulze, W. D. (1992). Why do people pay taxes? Journal of Public Economics, 48(1), 21-38. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2727(92)90040-MTax-compliance paradigm and neutral versus tax wording; abstract read.
- Alm, J., Deskins, J., & McKee, M. (2004). Tax evasion and entrepreneurship: The effect of income reporting policies on evasion. An experimental approach. 97th Annual Conference of the National Tax Association, Minneapolis. Earned income, reporting and random audits; methods read in the IRS-hosted conference paper.
Source papers
Questions
How long does the Income Reporting Task take?
About 6 to 8 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Reported Income Share, Reported Share at Lower Audit Chance, Reported Share at Higher Audit Chance, Audit Chance Difference, Full Report Rate, Earned Points, Reported Points, Points Kept, Audited Rounds, Zero-Income Rounds, Median Report Time, Anticipations, Rounds Completed and Rule Check Correct. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Income Reporting Task used in research?
29 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 17% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 443 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade E). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 10 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Income Reporting Task have?
In the published research, 0 papers report its test-retest reliability and 0 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade D in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Rounds (4, 6, 8, 10, 12), work per round (seconds) (15 to 60), points per correct answer (1 to 100), tax or deduction (%) (0 to 50), lower audit chance (%) (0 to 100), higher audit chance (%) (0 to 100), fine per unpaid tax point (0 to 3) and wording (Tax, audit and fine, Deduction, check and extra deduction). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
Participants can take this test in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. English is on every plan, and the other languages come with yearly plans. Have a native speaker read the machine-translated text before launch.
Is this a clinical test?
No. ConductCognition is for research use only. It runs, scores and exports the test; clinical interpretation is outside the platform.
Every test: the full test list.
Run this test in your next study
Start free with 10 free participants on any test, then use participant credits or a yearly plan.
Related tests