Can the digitalization of tax administration promote corporate digital transformation?—— empirical evidence from China

Abstract

With the development of the digital economy era, the digitalization of tax administration has become a crucial component of the new round of fiscal and taxation system reforms. This study constructs a learning game theory model to explore the impact of tax administration digitalization on firms' digital transformation behavior. Utilizing the pilot implementation of the “fully digitalized electronic invoicing” system as a quasi-natural experiment, the study applies double machine learning techniques to empirically test the theoretical model. The results demonstrate that the digitalization of tax administration significantly enhances firms' digitalization levels. Mechanism tests reveal that tax administration digitalization effectively promotes firms' digital transformation by approximately 9 percentage points through its incentive effects, efficiency gains, and cost-saving effects. Furthermore, heterogeneity is observed across firms based on their characteristics, scale, market competition intensity, and regional disparities. Finally, the study provides policy recommendations on talent development, platform optimization, and data security.