value added tax and tax evasion

The phenomenon of tax evasion has been always one of the most major issues among economists due to it's devastating effects on the economy and the process of economic development. Many scholars have always sought to provide solutions to reduce and limit tax evasion. The introduction of the VAT system can be seen as a milestone in the area of economic transparency and tax evasion, which refers to counteracting this phenomenon through reforming the structure of the tax system. In the present study, the effect of VAT on the tax evasion phenomenon has been discussed. For this purpose, the research hypothesis has been tested for data from 28 OECD countries in the period from 2013 to 2002 using generalized moments method. The results of the estimation show that by expanding the value added tax, the tax evasion phenomenon also decreases. Also, agricultural value added has a positive effect on tax evasion, while the effect of inflation and rule of law are negative. Therefore, in order to deal with the phenomenon of tax evasion, attention to institutional factors, along with attention to economic factors such as the structure of the tax system, is proposed.