Road Fund Tax Compliance: An Analysis of Enhancement Strategies ROBERT J. EGER III and MERL M. HACKBART This paper focuses on a continuing concern of tax administrators, which is the selection of the most efficient means of ensuring tax law compliance. The selection of the most efficient enforcement techniques and strategies can reduce compliance costs, enhance revenues, and support a culture of voluntary tax law compliance. This paper reports on a national study of state compliance efforts regarding state motor fuel taxes and motor vehicle registration fees, which are major sources of revenue for state Road Funds. Because of special complexities and unique interstate cooperation efforts, the compliance efficiency assessment focuses on the commercial carrier taxpayer group. INTRODUCTION Tax system compliance is enhanced when there is a high degree of public confidence that tax laws are enforced and that the overall tax system is fairly and efficiently admin- istered. 1 Universal compliance with existing tax laws also adds to the public’s perceptions of tax system ‘‘fairness.’’ To assure the public that the tax laws are being uniformly complied with requires a mix of enforcement strategies. The efficient implementation of such strategies assures citizens that other taxpayers are complying with existing tax laws and are paying their ‘‘fair share’’ of the cost of government. Governments have employed a variety of strategies and techniques to provide such assurance and to detect non-compliant taxpayer behavior. Four major strategies have Robert J. Eger III is Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Urban Studies at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, 14 Marietta Street, Suite 357, Atlanta, GA 30303. His research interests focus on public financial management, issues in taxation, the use of public authorities, and intergovernmental relations. He can be reached at reger@gsu.edu. Merl H. Hackbart is Professor of Finance and Public Administration at the University of Kentucky, 445 Gatton College of Business and Economics, Lexington, KY 40506. He can be reached at fin008@uky.edu. 1. See B. Bradley, The Fair Tax (New York: Pocket Books, 1984). M. Levi, Of Rule and Revenue (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988). F. A. Cowell, Cheating the Government: The Economics of Evasion (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1990). Public Budgeting & Finance / Spring 2005 66