scholarly journals Evaluation of Digital Shadow Economy Prevention Measures

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-40
Author(s):  
Rita Remeikiene ◽  
Ligita Gaspareniene

Abstract Although during the past few years the scopes of shadow economy in Lithuania have slightly decreased, different forms of this phenomenon, in particular digital shadow activities, still generate a significant part of the overall value added. As no constant estimations of the scope of digital shadow economy have been made in Lithuania, alleviation of this problem is based on consequence fighting rather than reason elimination. Digital shadow economy poses a significant challenge for law enforcement agencies concerning its investigation and prevention. Hence, it is purposeful to research both theoretical and practical aspects of digital shadow economy prevention in order to identify the measures that could be used for the efficient reduction of the scope of this phenomenon. The aim of this research is to identify the measures of digital shadow economy prevention and compare the attitudes of governmental institutions and consumers towards the efficiency of these measures. The results of the empirical research showed that both consumers and experts agree that the level of tax morale has to be raised not only by using the measures of self-education but also by introducing long-term educational programmes; second, public authorities should ensure business friendly environment, actively implement the principles of justice and officially acknowledge and announce the concept of digital shadow economy; finally, for more efficient detection of the cases of digital shadow activities, it is necessary to reinforce current labour resources that should be specially trained to be able to disclose revenue hiding and tax evasion schemes, employed in e-trade.

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 122-138
Author(s):  
Jolita Krumplytė

In the scientific literature the shadow economy is defined as a complex multifaceted set of phenomena, whose existence is determined by various factors and causes. The article examines the shadow economy through tax administration perspective. The author’s chosen object of the research encompasses economic activities, results of which such as tax evasion or concealment are not included in the official records. The shadow economy factors and reasons are economic, legal-administrative and social- psychological. Most of the time scientific research analyses the following shadow economy factors and causes: ▪ burden and rise of direct and indirect taxes and compulsory social insurance contribution; ▪ too stringent (or insufficient) legal and administrative regulation; ▪ weak government and a high level of corruption in the governmental sector; ▪ the income inequality (a high poverty level); ▪ the legislative gaps; ▪ the tax administration system deficiencies; ▪ irrational country’s economic policy; ▪ tax morale; ▪ insufficient government attention to social policy or irrational its development. The article presents the empirical study results about Lithuanian shadow economy factors and causes. The survey was carried out by experts – Lithuanian State Tax Inspection staff which has experience in inspecting taxpayers and conducting tax investigations. 702 experts took part in the research. According to experts’ estimations, companies and individuals enter into shadow economic activity mainly because they do not have any other way out (otherwise they won’t be able to stand up to competition, individuals won’t be able to make a living, etc.) as well as because other economy players pull them in. Experts also estimate that the most important Lithuanian shadow economy causes are the following: too big tax burden (in the case of illegal work – significant gross and net wage gap), gaps in legislation, frequent law changes, distrust of country’s government, dissatisfaction with the quality of work of governmental institutions. The main causes of the sprawl of the shadow economy – the inability to compete without being involved in the shadow economy, the lack of unified declaration of income and insufficient control of state institutions.


Author(s):  
Pavel Semerád

This paper deals with analysis of current problems in the motor fuel market. It analyzes bottlenecks in setting the legislative changes in value added tax, excise tax and the legislation concerning fuels. The biggest problem is tax evasions that favor one group of business entities at the expense of another, and also cause that the state loses revenues mainly from indirect taxes. Therefore, attention is directed to quality control of fuels as a means of consumer protection and prevention of tax evasion and ways to combat tax evasion in import, distribution and storage of mineral oils. The examples are the most common errors found in fraudulent companies. Based on the data collected the possible ultimate evasion was estimated. Therefore, I propose that value added tax law should be amended and some other measures to improve supervision by public authorities like tax authorities and customs administration offices should be taken.


2020 ◽  
pp. 69-85
Author(s):  
Andrii Lohvyn

In the article the author explored the legal regulation of counteraction to VAT evasion (avoidance by taxpayers of their tax liability by minimizing tax liabilities), which is a specific type of activity of tax authorities. The continuous development of public relations in the field of taxation in Ukraine requires effective application of administrative prevention (counteraction) measures in this area and, of course, the qualitative state of legal regulation of these measures. In the legal literature, administrative prevention measures were mainly studied in terms of conceptual and categorical apparatus and their classification. To date, considering the introduction of electronic administration of value added tax, studies on the use of administrative prevention measures by public authorities in the scientific field have not been analyzed. Taking into account international experience and based on a systematic analysis of the current legislation, the author deals with the legal mechanism for counteracting evasion from paying value added tax by means of introducing electronic administration of value added tax. The author notes that with the introduction of automated monitoring of risk assessment (taking into consideration the criterion of the amount of paid value added tax) (the so-called “tax burden” and/or “tax return”), the state is trying to increase budget revenues. The author concludes that administrative prevention (counteraction) measures used by regulatory authorities, in a sense, are the tools by which it is possible to achieve timely response to the activities of taxpayers aimed at tax evasion. It was substantiated that automated monitoring of compliance of tax invoices with the risk assessment criteria can be considered as a preventive measure, according to which taxpayers’ transactions aimed at forming an illegal tax credit are detected by regulatory authorities. In turn, making decisions if a payer of value added tax meets the Criteria of being a risky payer, and accordingly, further suspension (blocking) of registration of tax invoices of the specified payer, is a measure to counteract evasion from paying value added tax. It was proved that from the legal point of view, the legal mechanism of administrative prevention (counteraction) measures, in particular, those regarding the implementation (conducting) of automated monitoring, should contribute to the avoidance of legal collisions and contradictions that arise between regulatory authorities and taxpayers.


Author(s):  
Natalia Kovalisko ◽  
Serhii Makeev

Socio-economic trajectories of Poland and Ukraine have been considerably diverging since the last decade of the 20th century. The former has been advancing and catching up with Western European countries in terms of the quality of life — whereas in Ukraine, the 1990s recession gave way to unsustainable economic growth, which interrupted in the second half of the 2000s and in the 2010s. The comparison of official statistics, along with the data of household surveys and public opinion polls, makes it possible to conclude that a progressive and sustainable transition from a command economy to free market, as exemplified by Poland, is accompanied by moderate deepening of economic inequality. However, an abnormal transition (deviating from the “Polish rule”) entails excessive concentration of wealth and gives rise to corruption as a mechanism of income redistribution among different categories of population. This also results in a more noticeable stratification of opportunies for meeting vital and existential needs. Owing to a large proportion of shadow economy and undeclared work, Ukrainians remain a source of cheap labour in both the domestic and international labour markets; in addition, a persistent subculture of tax evasion is being formed in this country.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4768
Author(s):  
Anna Kowal ◽  
Grzegorz Przekota

The effectiveness of the tax system can be analysed in various ways. According to the authors one of manifestations of such effectiveness is resistance to tax evasion. This phenomenon is influenced by multiple factors, with few being the level of VAT rates and the number of rates in force in the country concerned. The aim of the considerations is therefore to analyse how the standard VAT rate as well as the number of rates affect the effectiveness of this tax. The research was based on a literature query in the field of value added tax in the European Union. In addition, the problem of tax evasion was indicated and the aggregated data on the size of the tax gap in the Member States were presented. Then, there are the results of the research for 27 European Union countries for 2011–2019. The efficiency of VAT collection was modelled using square function, determining the significance of the parameters of this function, as well as the value of abscissa, which made it possible to group the countries based on how they maintained the efficiency of VAT collection over the analysed period of time. The final part of the study concentrates on the relationship between the efficiency of tax collection and the amount of both the basic rate and the number of rates. The conclusions of the research are as follows: a tax system with a small number of reduced rates, and preferably with one relatively low standard rate, is the system least susceptible to tax fraud. The research also shows a positive correlation between the value of the basic VAT rate along with the number of preferential rates and the scale of the tax gap, i.e., in countries with a higher standard VAT rate and a greater number of preferential rates, the tax gap is greater. The study will enable further investigation into the strategy of determining the optimal VAT rate and the process of its unification. Proposed changes may contribute to increasing the efficiency of VAT administration in EU countries, reducing the shadow economy, tax fraud and positively influencing economic growth.


Economies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Němec ◽  
Eva Kotlánová ◽  
Igor Kotlán ◽  
Zuzana Machová

While assessing the economic impacts of corruption, the corruption-related transmission channels which influence taxation as such have to be duly considered. Taking the example of the Czech Republic, this article aims to evaluate the impacts corruption has on the size of the shadow economy as well as on the individual sources of long-term economic growth, making use of a transmission channel through which corruption affects the tax burden components. Using the method of an extended DSGE model, it confirms the initial assumption that an increase in perceived corruption supports the shadow economy’s growth, but at the same time, it demonstrates that corruption and especially its perception has a significantly different effect on two key areas—the capital accumulation and the labour force size. It further identifies another sector of the economy representing taxes which are prone to tax evasion while asserting that corruption has a much more destructive effect on this sector of the economy, offering generalized implications for other post-communist EU member states in a similar situation.


Author(s):  
Shatilova O.S.

Purpose. The goal of the article is to identify the psychological factors of career development in the shadow economy of Ukraine. For this purpose, the attitudes of students of Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics (KNUTE) to the problem of fictitious entrepreneurship and tax evasion were studied.Methods. We conducted two experiments with KNUTE students using imaginary situations. In general, the imaginary situation was about a delinquent entrepreneur who sells goods. The entrepreneur exceeds the annual income and therefore opens a sales outlet for a fictitious person to avoid paying taxes. There were nine imaginary situations in total: a delinquent entrepreneur (zero framing), as well as other delinquent entrepreneurs such as a mother of three children, a father of three children, a foreigner, a student, a KNUTE student, a foreign student, a graduate, a KNUTE graduate. The first experiment was aimed at determining the willingness to punish or not punish the delinquent entrepreneur for tax evasion.The second experiment was carried out simultaneously on a different sample, and there were seven imaginary situations: a delinquent entrepreneur (zero framing) as well as other delinquent entrepreneurs including a mother of three children, a father of three children, a foreigner, a student, a KNUTE student, and a foreign student. In addition to framing with a delinquent entrepreneur, three perspectives were analyzed: neutral perspective, first perspective, third perspective (tax officer). Each student received one imaginary situation and three perspectives to it, which influenced the decision about a delinquent entrepreneur. The second experiment was aimed at determining the willingness to punish or not punish the delinquent entrepreneur for tax evasion as moderated by neutral, first, and third perspectives.Experiments were conducted online at SurveyMonkey at the end of 2019. Participation was anonymous, voluntary, and free of charge. For statistical data processing, we used the Mann-Whitney test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the Friedman test.Results. The following facts were revealed: 1) Regardless of imaginary situations, students with business experience are less likely to punish delinquent entrepreneurs for tax evasion than students without such experience. We believe that this is related to profit motivation; 2) regardless of imaginary situations, law students are more likely to punish delinquent entrepreneurs for tax evasion than trade students as well as non-trade and non-law students. We believe that this is related to legal awareness of KNUTE law students; 3) non-trade and non-law students are more likely to punish a delinquent foreign entrepreneur than a delinquent entrepreneur who is a mother of three children in an imaginary situation of tax evasion. The result may be explained by empathy towards the entrepreneur-mother of three children. Furthermore, law students did not show empathy for the entrepreneur-mother of three children. This is associated with legal awareness; 4) the effect of neutral, first, and third perspectives moderate the decision to punish or not punish a delinquent entrepreneur in an imaginary situation of tax evasion.Findings. Upon summarizing the results, we found that the acquisition of entrepreneurial experience and the manifestation of empathy are likely factors underlying a tolerant attitude towards tax evasion. Legal awareness is an opposite factor. Changing the perspective is a frame that adapts to any audience and can potentially be used to change different career decisions.Key words: career, imaginary situation, shadow economy, taxes, framing, entrepreneurial experience, empathy, legal awareness. Мета статті полягає у виявленні психологічних чинників розбудови кар’єри в секторі тіньової еко-номіки України. Для цього вивчалося вставлення студентів Київського національного торговельно-економічного університету (КНТЕУ) до проблеми фіктивного підприємництва та несплати податків.Методи. Ставлення студентів до проблеми фіктивного підприємництва та несплати податків вивчалося експериментально за допомогою уявних ситуацій. У першому експерименті кожен студент отримав одну уявну ситуацію, яка стосувалася фізичної особи – підприємця, що здійснює продаж товарів, перевищує річний обсяг доходу і для уникнення сплати податків відкриває точку продажу на підставну особу. Усього було дев’ять уявних ситуацій із порушниками: з фізичною особою – підприємцем (нульовий фреймінг), матір’ю трьох дітей, батьком трьох дітей, іноземцем, студентом, студентом КНТЕУ, студентом-іноземцем, випускником, випускником КНТЕУ. Дослі-дження спрямовувалося на визначення готовності карати/не карати підприємця-порушника за ухиляння від сплати податків.У другому експерименті, який проводився синхронно на іншій вибірці, було сім уявних ситуацій: про фізичну особу – підприємця (нульовий фреймінг), матір трьох дітей, батька трьох дітей, іноземця, студента, студента КНТЕУ, студента-іноземця. Окрім фреймінгу з фізичною особою – підприємцем змінювалася також атрибуція актора: невизначена атрибуція, перша особа, третя особа (працівник податкової служби). Кожен студент отримав одну уявну ситуацію з трьома атрибуціями. Дослідження спрямовувалося на визначення готовності карати/не карати підприємця-порушника залежно від зміни атрибуції актора.Експерименти проводилися онлайн на SurveyMonkey в кінці 2019 р. Участь була анонімною, добро-вільною, безоплатною. Для статистичної обробки даних використовувалися тести Манна-Вітні, Кра-скала-Воліса, Фрідмана.Результати. Були виявлені такі факти: 1) Незалежно від подання уявних ситуацій студенти з досвідом підприємницької діяльності менш схильні карати підприємців-порушників за несплату податків, аніж студенти, що не мають такого досвіду. Уважаємо, це пояснюється мотивом збіль-шення прибутків; 2) незалежно від подання уявних ситуацій студенти правничих спеціальностей більш схильні карати підприємців-порушників за несплату податків, аніж студенти торговельного спрямування та студенти інших, не пов’язаних із торгівлею і правом спеціальностей. Уважаємо, результат пояснюється правосвідомістю студентів правничих спеціальностей КНТЕУ; 3) студенти неторговельних, неправничих спеціальностей більш схильні карати підприємця-іноземця, ніж під-приємця – матір трьох дітей в уявній ситуації приховування податків та відкриття фіктивної точки продажу. На нашу думку, результат пояснюється емпатією до підприємця – матері трьох дітей. Разом із тим студенти правничих спеціальностей не проявили емпатії до підприємця – матері трьох дітей; 4) також була підтверджена гіпотеза, що атрибуція актора модерує рішення карати/не карати підприємця-порушника в уявній ситуації відкриття ним точки продажу на підставну особу для уникнення сплати податків.Висновки. Узагальнюючи результати, виявлено, що, ймовірно, набуття підприємницького досвіду та прояв емпатії виступають чинниками формування толерантного ставлення до несплати податків, а правосвідомість є чинником протидії. Зміна ж атрибуції актора є фреймом, що адаптується до будь-якої аудиторії та потенційно може використовуватися для зміни кар’єрних рішень.Ключові слова: кар’єра, уявна ситуація, тіньова економіка, податки, фреймінг, підприємницький досвід, емпатія, правосвідомість.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (2020) ◽  
pp. 9-24
Author(s):  
Ioana Maria COSTEA ◽  

Our study proposes a two-step analysis of the concept of VAT fraud, a time limit represented by the adoption of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2017 on the fight against fraud to the Union’s financial interests by means of criminal law. Through our analytical approach, which uses the comparative method meticulously under the auspices of the limited interpretation imposed by criminal law, specific hypotheses are revealed regarding the forms of tax evasion in the European Union framework for the operation of value added tax. Equally, the study seeks to identify the blind spots of national law and the directions for refining tax evasion legislation.


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