Educoretax
Vol 5 No 4 (2025)

Shadows and shortfalls: Unraveling the relationship between informal economies and fiscal capacity

Wijaya, Alif Sukhairi (Unknown)
Wijaya, Suparna (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
15 Apr 2025

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the effect of the shadow economy on tax revenue through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach. The shadow economy, which encompasses unrecorded and unreported economic activities, has a significant impact on a country's fiscal capacity. The SLR method was used by conducting a systematic search of the Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct databases for publications from 2010-2024. From 1,235 identified articles, 42 articles were extracted and analyzed in depth based on established inclusion and exclusion criteria. The review results show that the shadow economy consistently correlates negatively with tax revenue, with varying magnitudes of influence based on country characteristics, economic structure, and taxation systems. Determinant factors that strengthen this relationship include high tax burdens, regulatory complexity, corruption, low institutional effectiveness, and the level of public tax awareness. This study also identifies several effective tax policy mechanisms in mitigating the negative effects of the shadow economy, including digitalization of tax administration, enhancing the capacity of tax authority institutions, and voluntary compliance programs. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings provide a comprehensive information foundation for policymakers in designing optimal tax revenue strategies amid informal economy challenges.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

educoretax

Publisher

Subject

Humanities Decision Sciences, Operations Research & Management Economics, Econometrics & Finance Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Social Sciences

Description

Educoretax is a place for disseminating research results in the field of taxation, including, but not limited to, topics on central taxes, customs, excise, local taxes, regional levies, tax accounting, tax law, tax administration, tax information systems, public policies, and other ...