Effects of Tax Amnesties on Tax Revenues: An Empirical Analysis for Turkey

This study aims to reveal empirically the effect of tax amnesties on tax revenues in the case of Turkey by employing SVAR technique for the period 1980-2013. The empirical findings of the study show that tax amnesties initially reduce tax revenues, whereas later they increase it. However, the stimulating effect of tax amnesties on tax revenues reduces over time. In addition, the empirical findings of the study indicate that only 8.5% of the whole variation in tax revenue is explained by tax amnesties. Furthermore, the empirical findings of study reveal that the effect of elections on tax revenue is stronger than tax amnesties. 21.3% of the variation in tax revenue is explained by elections, it is followed by public sector borrowing requirement by 7.6%.