Nudges comportamentais aplicados à cobrança administrativa tributária: um estudo de caso da Secretaria Municipal das Finanças de Fortaleza

Abstract

The research addresses the use of behavioral nudges in administrative tax collection, focusing on the Municipal Finance Department of Fortaleza. A theoretical framework was created on the municipal fiscal situation and the search for financial autonomy. Furthermore, the study deals with Behavioral Economics, highlighting the influence of cognitive limitations and their patterns represented by heuristics and biases in the scope of tax compliance. The analysis explores the application of behavioral strategies to make administrative charges more assertive, by modifying the language in communication with taxpayers. With the objectives of describing, identifying and analyzing these behavioral applications, SEFIN's collection actions were described in the form of three experiments on the IPTU 2022 public. The use of simplification nudges and highlighting consequences showed promising signs of contributing to an increase in revenue from this audience, from which over R$ 30 million was recovered from the default stock that would have been sent for active debt registration.