Yayan Riyanto

PhD Project

"Investigating Tax Evasion in Crypto Assets Environment"

My PhD project investigates the taxation issues around crypto assets, specifically on the elusive nature of evasion. With its already infamous reputation of sheltering illicit activities, the research attempts to verify and explore whether crypto is indeed an alternative avenue for tax evasion and discuss on how the policy makers respond.

The objective of the research is to quantitatively analyse the existence of crypto-related tax evasion and qualitatively assess the policy response. Unlike other studies that theoretically conceptualise its likelihood, my research attempts to empirically show evidence through experiments and statistical inferences.

Some of the tax behaviour features in the 'conventional' setting are well understood as reflections of economic and non-economic determinants. However, it is also suggested that people may behave differently in the virtual space than in the real world. My research experiments with the features uniquely present in crypto to explain whether tax evasion tend to increase in such settings. In other words, the research aims to validate the established tax behaviour tenets on crypto context.

With capitalisation peaking at US$3 trillion in 2021, cryptocurrency market is expected to flourish in the future. As one of the world's fastest growing crypto adopters in the world, Indonesia is ironically also one of the countries with the lowest tax ratio in the region. By taking a study case in this country, the research documents and explores how policy makers develop and implement revenue strategies to tackle highly probable tax evasion cases in this sector.

Investigating both empirical evidence and policy response adds to the practical benefits of creating a culture of evidence-based policy making. Amid siloed-regulatory development and international legal void on crypto treatment, the move towards an agreement of a more rigorous and empirical framework to ascertain characteristics of a contested asset entity should lead to reconciliation.

This study contributes to knowledge by formulating a novel theory on how tax behaviour may be altered through the introduction of a new class of asset powered by technology. More interestingly, it is expected to construct innovative framework and method to approach the tax evasion study.