Tax Evasion from Cross-Border Fraud: Does Digitalization Make a Difference?
IMF Working Papers, November 13, 2020
Source details
- Canonical URL
- Tax Evasion from Cross-Border Fraud: Does Digitalization Make a Difference?
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Authors: Emmanouil Kitsios, João Tovar Jalles
- Published: November 13, 2020
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513561189.001
Summary
- The paper examines how the use of digital technologies can reduce cross-border tax fraud and increase government revenue.
- Uses data on intra-EU and world trade transactions to evaluate prevalence of trade tax fraud and effects of border digitalization.
- Core claims:
- Cross-border trade tax fraud is non-trivial and prevalent in many countries.
- Use of digital technologies at the border can alleviate such fraud.
- Potential revenue gains from digitalization could be substantial.
Key findings
- Empirical evidence indicates cross-border trade tax fraud is widespread across many countries.
- Digitalization at the border is correlated with reductions in trade-related tax fraud.
- Quantified impact:
- Halving the distance to the digitalization frontier could raise revenues by over 1.5 percent of GDP in low-income developing countries.
Scope and data
- Data sources: intra-EU and world trade transactions.
- Subject areas: Digitalization, Imports, International trade, Revenue administration, Tariffs, Tax evasion, Taxes, Technology, Value-added tax.
- Keywords include: carousel fraud, digitalization index, e-government, transaction data, VAT revenue, tariff revenue, tax authority.
Policy implications
- Enhancing border digitalization is a promising avenue for reducing cross-border tax fraud.
- Digital technology investments at border administration could yield substantial fiscal returns, especially in low-income developing countries where gains are estimated to be sizable.
Publication metadata (selected)
- Authors: Emmanouil Kitsios, João Tovar Jalles
- Date: November 13, 2020
- Series: IMF Working Papers, Working Paper No. 2020/245
- Pages: 16
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513561189.001
Tax Evasion from Cross-Border Fraud: Does Digitalization Make a Difference? By Emmanouil Kitsios and João Tovar Jalles. IMF Working Paper No. 2020/245, November 13, 2020.
Content in this bundle
- Working Paper