Presumptive taxation methods are policy tools widespread adopted by fiscal authorities with the aim to improve voluntary tax compliance and to fight tax evasion. Such methods allow authorities to uncover firms’ under-reporting,
but face several limits. In particular, presumptive taxation methods do not allow to disentangle when the presence of under-reporting is ascribable to tax evasion behaviour or to the lack of managerial skills and inefficiency. To overcome the main presumptive taxation weakness, we propose combining presumptive frameworks with a measure of technical efficiency, thus developing an integrated approach for tax evasion analysis able to support the audit activities of fiscal authorities. Further, we provide some considerations in terms of tax compliance and support our approach with evidence obtained
from an empirical application based on Italian firms
