Schemes to outsmart the revenue authority and circumvent the burden of paying taxes have been around since the early ages. Governments implement systems to combat and curb tax evasion, expecting that their punishment methods will deter people from evading tax; nevertheless, tax evasion remains a...

This paper presents evidence of market externalities of tax evasion: firms' tax non-compliance distorts the outcomes of their competitors. Using novel administrative data on the universe of Italian firms, we compute a tax evasion proxy as the fraction of individual firms that manipulate their...

Are sanctions bypassed by hiding money offshore? Using bilateral data on bank deposits, we compare how offshore deposits from sanctioned versus non-sanctioned countries develop after the U.S. and the EU impose financial sanctions. Sanctions targeting individuals increase offshore deposits, as...

This paper explores whether tax compliance would be affected if the tax payers are "status" seekers. If relative income is a symbol of relative status in a society, status concerned individuals would evade paying taxes more relative to the case where status is not a concern. However, such an...

Purpose The occurrence of economic crimes is a serious challenge to business leaders, government officials and private individuals in South Africa. The objective of this research was to determine the main reasons for committing economic crimes in South Africa. Design/Methodology/Approach Primary...

This study extends the theory of tax evasion by presenting a model of collaborative tax evasion between buyers and sellers. Buyers differ only in their level of tax morale, and tax evasion occurs when the seller fails to issue a receipt for the transaction. To counteract this, the government can...

We investigate whether firms engage in VAT evasion at the retail stage—typically a point of weakness in VAT systems—in a high-enforcement, low-informality setting. To measure evasion, we exploit a reform of VAT rules (the reverse charge, RC) whereby retailers do not only remit taxes on their...

Tax evasion, a global concern, undermines government revenue, public services, and societal trust. It occurs when taxpayers deliberately avoid their tax obligations. This study primarily explores the link between government legitimacy and tax evasion decisions in Ethiopia. Aside from bridging...

The objective of the study was to determine the size of Ghana's "underground economy" and the extent of tax evasion in Ghana. The underground economy in most countries is vital because it serves as a survival place for most people. However, their activities are mostly related to tax evasion...

Offshore tax havens cause large losses of government revenue by facilitating tax evasion by wealthy individuals. This paper focuses on offshore tax evasion in developing countries and documents two empirical regularities. First, there is no clear development gradient in the exposure to offshore...

This paper shows how cryptocurrency markets can fuel cross-border capital flight by serving as marketplaces that match counterparts with and without (illicit) access to FX. In countries where international transactions are restricted, crypto exchanges effectively allow domestic agents to pay a...

Does whistleblowing deter rule violations when such violations are believed to be common? We examine this question in an online experiment about collaborative tax evasion. We vary whether subjects can blow the whistle on their partner in crime and introduce a high-evasion environment by framing...

This paper aims to examine the influence of controlling corruption, tax burden reduction, price stability and trade liberalization on trade-related illicit financial flows. The analysis focuses on a sample of 120 developing and emerging countries, drawn from data collected over the period...

The primary objective of this study is to uncover and examine the patterns of scientific collaboration within the domain of tax evasion and tax avoidance spanning the years 1975 to 2022. To analyze the dissemination of knowledge on a worldwide scale, we investigated the interconnections among...