Estimation of Tax Evasion in Iran Using MIMIC Method (1976-2016)

It seems relatively in the developing and sometimes developed countries individuals and legal entities try to evade taxes legally or illegally. As a result, tax evasion has become a serious issue for countries including Iran. Being aware of the amount of tax evasion, politicians and statesmen can adopt the necessary policies to reduce it and improve the tax system. In this study, using the Multiple Indicators - Multiple Causes Method (MIMIC), the relative amount of tax evasion in Iran was estimated during the period of 1976 to 2016. The results indicated that the relative size trend of tax evasion during these 41 years has had ups and downs, starting from 8.18% of GDP and reaching its lowest level of 3.01 in 1987 and the highest amount in 1995, is 21.97% of GDP. Finally, the relative size of tax evasion reached 6.95% of GDP in 2016. The average relative size of tax evasion during these 41 years is 10.99.