Digital Empowerment:The Tax Treatment Effect of Big Data Development
In recent years,the convergence and integration of information technology and the economy and society have triggered a rapid growth in data,which has become a fundamental strategic resource of the State,and big data are increasingly having an important impact on global production,circulation,distribution and consumption activities,as well as on the mechanism for the operation of the economy,the way of life of the society,and the ability of the State to govern.The rapid development of the digital economy not only provides new momentum for the high-quality development of real industries,but also provides new opportunities for building a digital government and achieving the government's macro-control goals.However,the impact on fiscal governance,which is an important part of the government's governance system,is not yet clear.Theoretically,the implementation of big data industrial policy can promote the integration and development of digital technology and tax administration,and thus enhance corporate tax compliance.Therefore,based on the data of listed companies in China from 2010 to 2022,this paper examines the impact of location-oriented policies based on big data on corporate tax compliance in the context of the development of digital economy,using the construction of the"National Comprehensive Pilot Zone for Big Data"as a quasi-natural experiment.The study finds that the development of big data significantly improves corporate tax compliance,and this finding is still valid in a series of robustness tests.Mechanistic analyses suggest that big data development ultimately enhances corporate tax compliance by driving digital upgrades in tax collection and management,which in turn inhibits unusual connected transactions and the concealment of revenues from the sale of digitised products.Heterogeneity analyses based on information asymmetry theory and tax classification and regulation show that the effect is concentrated in firms with poor internal and external information environments,firms with large asset sizes,and firms with large group sizes.In addition,the long-term effects of big data development on corporate tax compliance are greater than the short-term effects.From the perspective of tax governance benefits,the development of big data significantly increases government tax revenues,improves the country's fiscal capacity,and provides impetus for the continued promotion of the digital economy.The economic consequences test also finds that big data development also increases the cost to firms of mitigating business risks through tax avoidance.Compared with previous studies,this paper makes the following three contributions.First,this paper adds to the literature on the economic consequences of the construction of the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone.Previous literature on the economic consequences of the construction of pilot zones has mainly focused on corporate labor productivity,total factor productivity,and urban economic development.This paper verifies the impact of pilot zone construction on corporate tax compliance,expanding the research framework of the existing literature.Second,this paper expands the research related to the influencing factors of corporate tax compliance.Previous literature explaining the influencing factors of corporate tax compliance is mostly based on corporate financing constraints,information transparency and agency problems.This paper explores the specific ways in which the development of big data affects corporate tax decisions from the perspectives of unusual connected transactions and hidden income.Third,this paper also provides policy references to help modernize tax governance and modernize national governance.At present,there is a lack of systematic empirical analysis of the relationship between big data development and tax administration digitization.Through empirical research,this paper finds that big data development can promote the digitalization of tax collection and administration by facilitating the digitalization of the economy and society,which provides new evidence for the further construction of a tax collection and administration system that adapts to the development of the digital economy.
new productive forcedigital governmentbig datataxation by numberscorporate tax avoidance
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