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National Security
Reference:

“Whitewashing” the activities of real estate agencies as one of the directions for ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere

Shemyakina Marina Sergeevna

ORCID: 0000-0003-3515-2680

PhD in Economics

Associate Professor, Department of Accounting, Taxes and Economic Security, Volga State Technological University

424000, Russia, Yoshkar-Ola, Lenin Square, 3

sh.marina.s@gmail.com
Other publications by this author
 

 

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0668.2024.2.43879

EDN:

BNFLFC

Received:

22-08-2023


Published:

04-05-2024


Abstract: The subject of the study is the relationships that arise in the process of ensuring fiscal security by public legal entities. Fiscal security is considered in the article from the perspective of its duality (budgetary security and tax security) in the context of the shadow sector, taking into account the risks of cartel collusion and concealment of part of the income and property from taxation. The nature of the formation of the shadow sector is explored, which is defined as a deep reserve that should be gradually mobilized into the budget system, while encouraging taxpayers to conscientiously fulfill their tax obligations, which will subsequently form a completely different level of tax culture. The article presents the author's logical model of leveling the shadow economy of public legal entities in order to ensure their fiscal security based on digital tools of public administration. The research is based on the following methods of scientific knowledge: comparison, analysis, synthesis of theoretical material. The author has developed an algorithm for comparing open Internet data with Federal Tax Service data in order to identify hidden income. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of the category “fiscal security”, the theoretical justification of the directions for its provision by public legal entities in the context of the “whitewashing” of the economy in the context of the use of digital tools of public administration.


Keywords:

budget and tax security, budget security, tax security, economic security, shadow economy, whitewashing the economy, tax administration, digitization, ensuring budget and tax security, threats

This article is automatically translated.

Introduction

One of the conditions for long-term budget balance and the development of a long-term budget strategy, as well as improving the effectiveness of regulation of the financial and budgetary sphere, is to identify effective methods to ensure the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere and identify its threats. The special relevance of this study is related to the current economic situation caused by the serious influence of geopolitics, a special military operation and sanctions imposed on Russia by most foreign countries. In this regard, the identification of risks and their triggers, the search for new elements of an economic security strategy in the fiscal sphere in order to ensure the sustainability of the regional budget system is the most important task of the scientific community and public authorities.

The purpose of this study is to develop theoretical provisions in terms of substantiating the directions of ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere in the context of digitalization associated with the "whitewashing" of the economy by the example of identifying income of real estate agencies that have been withdrawn from taxation.

To achieve this goal, the following tasks are defined in the work: to develop a logical model for leveling the shadow economy of public legal entities in order to ensure their fiscal security based on digital public administration tools and to consider the possibility of testing it on the example of intermediary entities engaged in real estate purchase and sale transactions.

The scientific novelty of the study lies in the development of the category "fiscal security" in the context of the shadow sector, the development of methodological tools for identifying shadow incomes of intermediary entities in the real estate purchase and sale market.

The theoretical significance of the study lies in the fact that its main conclusions and provisions develop the methodological foundations of tax control as one of the tools for ensuring fiscal security. The practical significance lies in the fact that the implementation of the algorithm developed in the study for identifying income derived from taxation by intermediary entities in the real estate purchase and sale market will increase the analytical and control functions of tax authorities in terms of ensuring budgetary and tax security of public legal entities.

Literature review

The issues of ensuring budgetary, tax and fiscal security of public legal entities, as well as their relationship with economic security, are mainly raised in the research of Russian scientists. Over the past few years, the attention of foreign authors has been focused on issues of ensuring such subsystems of economic security as energy [1] and food [2,3,4], which is due to the current situation in the global economic space. It should also be noted that most foreign authors practically do not use the concept of fiscal or tax security, despite the fact that their publications reveal these definitions from various points of view: from the position of tax management at the state level, tax policy and tax risk management, tax evasion. In some official documents, one can find tax policy directions within the framework of ensuring national security. For example, in the Interim Strategic Guidance on US National Security [5]: "We will fight tax havens." In addition, various studies are being conducted at the level of individual States. For example, Ikram ul Haq [6], exploring the legislation and the state of Pakistan's tax system, offers a new approach to combating the threats posed by corruption, tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing that undermine national security.

In Russian science, budget security and tax security are studied both individually and in their entirety. Theoretical and practical aspects of budget security assessment are reflected in the works of Bikmetova Z.M. [7], Reichert N.V. [8], Yashina N.I., Kravchenko V.S., Yashina S.N. [9], Salikova Yu.A., Tchaikovsky L.N., Pasinkova O.M. [10] and other scientists. Tax security at the state and regional levels has been studied in the works of K.A. Ponomareva [11], E.F. Kireeva [12], K.V. Maslov [13], O.A. Mironova [14]. Fiscal security is considered in the works of Trysyachny V.I., Shirova P.N., Vorobyova V.E. [15], Ilyasov D.M. [16], Bugaeva T.N. [17], Dyakova E.V., Grazhdankina O.A., Solopova N.N., Shutova N.A. [18], Sazhina Yu.V., Smolanova O.V. [19,20], Boboshko V.I., Boboshko N.M., Novoselova K.V. [21], Nikulina E.V., Chistnikova I.V., Orlova A.V. [22,23], Mironova O.A., Hanafeeva F.F. [26].  

The analysis of numerous literature allowed us to conclude that the issues of the capacity and possibility of legalizing the shadow sector have been repeatedly discussed, however, comprehensive studies related to the possibility of identifying and evaluating part of the shadow sector – the volume of hidden incomes of intermediaries in the real estate purchase and sale market in order to ensure budgetary and tax security of public legal entities are currently not available It was conducted. In this regard, the relevance of the topic of this article is beyond doubt.

 

Directions of ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere related to the "whitewashing" of the economy

 

Currently, Russia's fiscal policy is aimed at ensuring the structural transformation of the country's economy. According to the "Main directions of budget, tax, customs and tariff policy for 2023 and for the planning period of 2024 and 2025", such a transformation is carried out, inter alia, through the creation of a fair competitive environment and the reduction of the shadow sector – leveling one of the threats to the economic security of public legal entities.

In a broad sense, the shadow economy is the activity of citizens, bringing them income that is hidden from the state. In a narrow sense, from the standpoint of the theory of tax potential, the shadow economy is a latent tax base, which, with the effective use of tax administration tools, can be transformed into tax revenues of the state. Fiscal security in this study is considered from the perspective of its two components (budgetary and tax security), each of which is associated with the need to ensure a certain amount of state revenue, while they are inextricably linked, since such a volume is necessary to ensure a certain balance of the budgetary system (ensuring budgetary security) through the use of effective tax administration tools (ensuring tax security) for the direct mobilization of such a volume in terms of tax revenues.

From the point of view of ensuring budgetary security, the shadow sector is formed mainly through the use of various public procurement schemes for the purpose of appropriating budget funds. Such schemes may be associated, for example, with a cartel. At the same time, according to Lapina S.B., it can manifest itself both in collusion between officials of the customer, and directly between business entities– competitors [28].

From the point of view of ensuring tax security, the shadow sector is always formed when legal entities, individual entrepreneurs, self-employed, unregistered individuals in accordance with the legislation carry out activities and conceal part of the income and property that are subject to taxation. In this regard, the main task of tax administration is a comfortable and transparent "whitewashing" of the economy. Let's highlight the areas in which it is currently being implemented:

– the fight against "gray" wages

     At the parliamentary hearings on the topic "On additional sources of tax revenues of the budgets of the budgetary system of the Russian Federation" on December 9, 2020, D.A. Artamonov announced that "the budget system does not receive about 3 trillion rubles" of personal income tax and insurance premiums. In 2.5 years, the situation has changed (including due to changes in legislation and the introduction of new digital tax administration tools), however, according to a RANEPA study [29] in 2023, every fifth resident of the country receives a salary "in an envelope". This fact leads to the search for other effective administrative measures, including analytical control, aimed at further leveling this phenomenon.

digital transformation of calculation and payment of taxes and fees for small businesses and individuals

Currently, there is a tax on professional income, which is paid by individuals through the My Tax application. For a special tax regime in the form of a simplified taxation system, an experiment is being conducted to automate it (AUSN).

implementation of innovative product traceability tools

Labeling has already been implemented for 19 product groups (including 4 pilot projects) and has shown its usefulness. The phased implementation of this mechanism for other products will increase the effectiveness of control of sales chains.

search for industries with uneven tax burden and targeted work with taxpayers

This direction is carried out through the implementation of sectoral projects to "whitewash the economy" in all regions of the country. It seems that due to the different spatial development of the regions, such projects should become "point-based", i.e., a search for problem areas in the region should be carried out and a strategic map for working with this zone should be developed within the framework of the activities of the tax authorities of a particular region.   

search for new tax evasion schemes and their sanctification in the media.

All of these areas are inextricably linked with the mission of the Federal Tax Service of Russia - effective control and supervisory activities and high quality of services provided for legitimate, transparent and comfortable business, ensuring compliance with taxpayers' rights and forming the financial basis of the state [30].

In this regard, the shadow economy represents a deep reserve that should be gradually mobilized into the budget system, while encouraging taxpayers to faithfully fulfill their tax obligations, which will subsequently form a completely different level of tax culture.   

Figure 1 shows the logical model we have developed for leveling the shadow economy of public legal entities in order to ensure their fiscal security based on digital public administration tools. Let's take a closer look at the elements that make up its composition.

We have identified three blocks in each subsystem of fiscal security. The first block consists of digital (information and analytical) tools for ensuring the types of security under consideration (various automated systems and complexes with which the main functions of public administration by authorized bodies are carried out).  The second block is the identification of risks. When using these tools, the administrator (the Federal Tax Service or regulatory authorities in the field of public procurement) may identify the risk associated with the shadow economy. The main task is to eliminate threats to fiscal security (the third block) – the under-receipt by budgets of all levels of tax revenues (for tax security) and the excess of the expenditure part of the budget due to overpricing in public procurement (for budget security). At the same time, reducing the occurrence of this threat is possible by improving the procedure for carrying out control, supervisory and analytical activities using digital tools, as well as improving the efficiency of business processes of tax and other state financial control and their optimization. Let's consider this relationship using the example of the tax security subsystem. Big data generated by taxpayers is subject to analysis and control using digital tools – the VAT ASK. This allows, in particular, to identify industries with a multi-level tax burden and to accurately analyze the activities of specific taxpayers, identifying schemes for hiding income and property from taxation. At the same time, the optimization of tax control by automating part of its processes frees up labor resources that can be effectively used in other areas of activity of authorized state authorities.

The interconnection of the three blocks ensures the achievement of the main goal of fiscal policy - the reduction of the shadow sector.

 

Figure 1. A logical model for leveling the shadow economy of public legal entities in order to ensure their fiscal security based on digital public administration tools

Source: developed by the author

 

Analysis of the shadow sector – the activities of intermediary entities in the real estate purchase and sale market (realtors and real estate agencies)

 

The approbation of the presented model within the framework of ensuring one of its subsystems- tax security was carried out in relation to intermediary entities operating in the real estate purchase and sale market (realtors and real estate agencies) of the Republic of Mari El. The choice of this subject of the Russian Federation is primarily due to the fact that it is one of the regions with the smallest number of specified persons, which allows for their continuous verification. The methods used in testing the model are related only to the analysis of open data available on the Internet. Since the study was conducted without the use of Federal Tax Service data due to their closed nature (the first block of the model), the results may change if you use AIS "Tax-3", in a greater direction in terms of the number of people hiding their income.  

It is assumed that the use of the algorithm developed by the author to analyze the data contained in the databases of the Federal Tax Service and their comparison with open Internet data, in particular the Domclick service, will lead to better results in identifying income intentionally withdrawn by subjects from taxation. This is due to the fact that most of these entities are either individual entrepreneurs or self-employed. In this regard, there is no information about the results of their financial activities in open sources. Therefore, the verification was carried out only on the example of legal entities. In addition, the open source databases proposed in this article, reflecting information about the real activities of intermediaries in the real estate purchase and sale market, are not currently used by tax authorities during control measures. 

At the first stage, the selection of legal entities carrying out their intermediary activities in the Republic of Mari El in the real estate purchase and sale market using the Domclick service was carried out. As indicators characterizing the activity, the following are selected: the number of transactions over the past 12 months and the number of objects on sale as of 09.09.2023. The indicators are open, available to any user.

At the second stage, using the INN of selected organizations in the State Information Resource of accounting (financial) statements service, the results of their financial and economic activities were considered. Revenue for 2022 and 2021 is selected as an indicator.

At the third stage, the analysis of the indicators identified by us was carried out in order to find subjects who can hide their income. The results of the study are presented in Table 2. Of the 18 audited entities, we identified 3 whose activities are associated with a high risk of income concealment, and 5 individuals with an average risk, i.e. the activities of 44% of organizations are associated with a possible risk of income concealment. Let's look at them in more detail.

 

Table 2. The results of the activities of legal entities providing intermediary services in the real estate purchase and sale market

 

Item no.

Revenue for 2022, thousand rubles.

Revenue for 2021, thousand rubles.

Number of transactions

over the past 12 months using the Domclick service

The number of objects on sale as of 09.09.2023

Main

OKVED

1

2721

3421

149

81

69.10

2

57711

71971

128

5341

68.31

3

755

1150

70

93

68.31

4

43

95

59

8

82.91 (68.31)

5

There is no reporting in the GIR B(F)O system

There is no reporting in the GIR B(F)O system

32

10

69.10

6

32

83

18

0

68.31.3

7

6181

2859

7

0

71.12.4 Geodetic and cartographic activities

(68.10; 68.20)

8

0

- Registered

at the end of 2022

 

9

2

69.10

10

2496

0

16

5

69.10

11

0

3532

87

41

68.31

12

1952

1630

318

84

68.3

13

5870

3393

39

122

68.31.1

14

0

0

31

39

68.3

15

451

955

4

0

70.22

16

703

1090

103

13

68.31

17

993

915

6

1

74.90.2

18

639

7

78

19

68.31

19

16

17

14

5

69.10

Source: Compiled by the author based on the analysis of data from the Domclick service https://agencies.domclick.ru /; GIR B(F)Oh https://bo.nalog.ru/organizations-card ; service "Transparent business" https://pb.nalog.ru / .

 

Organization No. 5 did not submit accounting (financial) statements, therefore it is not in the database of GIR B(F)O. Verification through the Check Your Business service showed that in 2022 the organization paid taxes in the amount of 0 rubles, and in 2021 – 820 rubles. An analysis of the open statistics of the Domclick service on transactions of each realtor of this agency allows us to conclude that at least 4 transactions were conducted from September to December 2022, and 28 transactions from January 2023 to September 2023. At the same time, the Federal Tax Service database contains a message that the Federal Tax Service of Russia for the Republic of Mari El has decided on the upcoming exclusion from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, which is also contained in the publication of the Bulletin of State Registration. At the time of writing, three months have passed since the publication of this entry. This organization continues to carry out its activities, 10 ads for the sale of real estate objects are publicly available. These facts allow us to conclude that there is a high risk of hiding income.

Organization No. 14 did not submit accounting (financial) statements for 2022. However, an analysis of taxes paid, reflected in the Check Your Business service, and a comparison of data with previous financial results reports allows us to conclude that the amount of revenue from sales over the past three years has practically not changed, however, if we divide the revenue indicator by the number of transactions made through the Domclick service, then we will get the average value of the commission (realtor's fee) charged when buying real estate in Yoshkar-Ola. It should be noted that not all transactions are related to the purchase (the commission for the sale is higher) and many of them are made without the Domclick service. These facts allow us to conclude that there is a high risk of hiding income.

The activities of organization No. 8 are also associated with high risk due to zero sales revenue and zero values for the amount of taxes and fees paid for 2022, whereas an analysis of Domclick service data shows that at least 3 purchase and sale transactions were completed in 2022.

The activities of organizations 4,6,12,16,9 are associated with an average risk of income concealment. We came to this conclusion when analyzing the ratio of revenue from sales and the number of transactions through the Domclick service. The resulting value is several times lower than the average commission charged for the purchase of real estate in Yoshkar-Ola.

The presented algorithm can also be tested on other participants of the market under study. To do this, it is necessary to compare the data of the Domclick service on the number of transactions, objects for sale with the data of the Federal Tax Service on the status and movement of payments on the unified tax account of individual entrepreneurs and the self-employed.

It should be noted that in this study we did not take into account other possible types of income from the activities of intermediaries in the real estate purchase and sale market (for example, commission income received from renting real estate), however, calculations show that even without these data, it is possible to conclude about high or medium risks of hiding income. It seems that further research should be associated with the search for additional risk indicators that will allow scoring the entire market.  

Conclusions

Unlike other similar works (N. L. Kurepina, E. E. Zerkal [32]; E. V. Nikulina, I. V. Chistnikova, A.V. Orlova [23,33]), this article examines budget and tax security not only from the perspective of its dualism, but also in the context of a certain direction of provision – comfortable and transparent The "whitewashing" of the economy is the reduction of its shadow sector.

The research presented in this article allows us to estimate the number of real estate agencies-legal entities that withdraw income from taxation, based on an analysis of the comparability of accounting (financial) reporting data, information on taxes and fees paid to the budget system, information on the number of transactions made for the purchase and sale of real estate through the Domclick service. The algorithm developed by the author, when used by tax authorities, will reveal the approximate amount of hidden income by individual entrepreneurs and self-employed persons.  

Thus, ensuring fiscal security is associated with the need for state revenues to reach a certain amount and with the control of state expenditures, while both components (budgetary and tax security) are inextricably linked, since their level affects the balance of the budget system through the use of effective tax administration tools and other tools of state financial control. At the same time, in the context of the shadow sector, fiscal security should be considered taking into account the risks of cartel collusion and concealment of part of income and property from taxation.

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First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the study. The article should be devoted to the areas of ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere. In general, the content of the article corresponds to the stated topic, but the author's judgments and conclusions must be justified and reasoned. The research methodology is based mainly on the presentation of well-known facts and judgments. It is recommended to accompany the analysis and synthesis of numerical data, as well as the formation of graphical objects that allow you to visually see the composition, structure of the phenomena and processes under consideration, as well as the dynamics of their development. The relevance of the study of issues related to ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere is beyond doubt, since not only the socio-economic development of the regions, but also the entire Russian Federation depends on it. Subject to the qualitative development of these issues, the prepared scientific article will be in wide demand among the readership. There is practically no scientific novelty in the materials submitted for review. But the preparatory work for this has been carried out. The revision of the article, taking into account the comments indicated in the text of the review, will solve this problem. It is especially recommended to develop an idea with a logical model of leveling the shadow economy of public legal entities in order to ensure their fiscal security based on digital public administration tools. Attention should be paid to determining the significance of this model in terms of its specific elements and potential uses. Style, structure, content. The style of presentation is scientific. The structure of the article is indicated by the author, but it is recommended to supplement it with the blocks "Methods and conditions of research", "Discussion of research results", "Conclusions and further directions of research". First of all, it is strange that the purpose of the study appears in the results of the study. Can the purpose of the study be its results? In terms of content, the article requires a deeper study of the issues raised. The author, for example, says that the use of digital technologies makes it possible to identify industries with different tax burdens, but in what way exactly? Moreover, how does this relate to the research topic? Bibliography. The bibliographic list consists of 21 titles. It is valuable that the author has studied not only domestic sources, but also foreign publications. At the same time, the publications of 2022-2023 were practically not studied, which should be eliminated when finalizing the article. Appeal to opponents. Despite the generated list of references, no scientific discussion has been found. When finalizing the article, attention should be paid to the need to eliminate this problem. It will also make it possible to substantiate the scientific novelty and practical significance, the presence of which in the current edition is viewed extremely superficially. Conclusions, the interest of the readership. Taking into account all the above, the article requires a deep substantive revision, after which the issue of the possibility of its publication can be resolved. Subject to high-quality refinement, it will be of great interest to a wide readership.

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Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
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Directions of ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere Ensuring the economic security of Russia is the most important task today in the face of external challenges and shocks. One of the components of the economic security of the state is fiscal security. The growth of budget deficits, both federal and most regional, currently determines the importance of the research direction chosen by the author due to the need to search for opportunities to ensure long-term budgetary stability. The presented article is devoted to the study of the problems of ensuring fiscal security in modern conditions characterized by the increase in external threats and the development of digitalization of public administration. The title of the article corresponds to the content. The purpose of the study is to develop theoretical provisions in terms of substantiating the directions of ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere in the context of the development of digitalization of public administration related to the "whitewashing" of the economy. The article highlights sections with subheadings, which corresponds to the presented requirements of the journal "Taxes and Taxation". In the "Introduction" the author makes an attempt to substantiate the significance and relevance of the chosen research direction. There are no standard elements for "Conducting" scientific articles. The author needs to supplement the Introduction with such mandatory elements as the goal (the goal is indicated in the third section), tasks, and practical significance. In the section "Literature review", the author examines the results of domestic and foreign studies of fiscal security of the state, coming to the conclusion about the allocation of fiscal security as a result of the synthesis of budgetary and tax security. The section "Directions of ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere related to the "whitewashing" of the economy" is devoted to the description of the research results. The author presents the developed model of leveling the shadow economy of public legal entities in order to ensure their fiscal security based on digital tools of public administration. This model is of interest from the standpoint of the theoretical significance of the study. The author also examines the performance indicators of intermediary organizations in the real estate market of the Republic of Mari El in order to identify risks of income concealment and understatement of tax bases based on the ratios of financial indicators and sales indicators according to open information sources. In the section "Conclusions", the author formulates conclusions based on the results of the study. The logic of the construction of the article and the reflection of the research results raises questions. Why was the construction industry / development chosen as an example? Justification is also required by the transition from the definition of fiscal security to the whitewashing of the economy and digitalization of tax administration, and then to the tax risks of taxpayers in the construction industry. How is this directly related to the results of the claimed fiscal security study? The research uses well-known general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, comparison, ascent from the abstract to the concrete, logical method, etc. Among the special economic methods, statistical analysis, analysis of structure and dynamics are applied. The relevance of the chosen topic is obvious. The author justifiably emphasizes that "the relevance of this study is related to the current economic situation caused by the serious influence of geopolitics, a special military operation and sanctions imposed on Russia by most foreign countries." The author should update the changed data and trends: "the index of the physical volume of GDP for 2022 is 97.9%, and for the 1st quarter of 2023 – 98.1% and, most likely, by the end of the year the trend will continue." Now the situation has changed. The practical significance of the study seems to be high. However, the author does not explicitly state it in the article. The article should be supplemented with a justification of the practical significance of the conducted research. The author has not formulated the points of scientific novelty of the study. We believe that the elements of increment of scientific knowledge are present in the article, the article should be supplemented with the author's vision of scientific novelty. This will increase the attractiveness of the research for the general readership of the journal. The style of the article is scientific and meets the requirements of the journal. At the same time, the text is not devoid of certain flaws and typos, including punctuation. The author uses illustrative material, which increases the perception of the research results by readers. The article contains a figure and 2 tables. The bibliography is presented by 33 foreign and domestic sources, which does not meet the requirements of the journal. All sources are referenced in the text of the article. Most of the sources are relevant. It is necessary to ensure the correctness of links to Internet resources in the list of references. In the article, it is advisable to expand scientific polemics in terms of approaches to determining fiscal security, the level of development of digital technologies of tax administration, the scale of the shadow economy, factors of fiscal security, for example. The advantages of the article include the following. Firstly, the relevance and significance of the chosen research area. Secondly, there is a practical example of assessing tax risks according to the list of taxpayers. Thirdly, the breadth of coverage of various definitions of budgetary and tax security in the framework of a literature review and terminological analysis. Fourth, the presented model of leveling the shadow economy of public legal entities in order to ensure their fiscal security based on digital tools of public administration. The disadvantages of the article include the following. Firstly, the absence of explicitly formulated elements of scientific novelty, as well as the need to specify the practical significance. Secondly, the need to adjust the "Introduction" section and supplement it with formalized elements. Thirdly, the need to adjust the design of the bibliographic list. Fourth, there is a lack of justification for the logic of the structure of the article and the transition from terminological research in the field of tax security to the whitewashing of the economy and digitalization of tax administration, and then to the tax risks of taxpayers in the construction industry. Conclusion. The presented article is devoted to the study of the problems of ensuring fiscal security in modern conditions characterized by the increase in external threats and the development of digitalization of public administration. The article reflects the results of the author's research and may arouse the interest of the readership. The article can be accepted for publication in the journal "Taxes and Taxation" after the elimination of the comments indicated in the text of this review.

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The article is devoted to countering the spread of the shadow economy in the provision of real estate services, substantiating the directions of ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere related to the identification of income of real estate agencies that have been withdrawn from taxation. The methodology of the study is based on the study of the literature on the subject of the study, the analysis of data on the results of the activities of legal entities providing intermediary services in the real estate purchase and sale market. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that the identification of income withdrawn from taxation by intermediary entities in the real estate purchase and sale market will increase the analytical and control functions of tax authorities in terms of ensuring budgetary and tax security of public legal entities. According to the authors, the scientific novelty of the reviewed study lies in the development of the category "budget and tax security" in the context of the shadow sector, the development of methodological tools for identifying shadow incomes of intermediary entities in the real estate purchase and sale market. One can quite agree with this. The following sections are structurally highlighted in the article: Introduction, Literature review, Directions for ensuring the economic security of public legal entities in the budgetary and tax sphere related to the "whitewashing" of the economy, Analysis of the shadow sector - the activities of intermediary entities in the real estate purchase and sale market (realtors and realtor agencies Conclusions and Bibliography. The article provides an overview of research by Russian and foreign scientists devoted to ensuring budgetary, tax and fiscal security of public legal entities, which allowed the authors of the article to conclude that "comprehensive studies related to the possibility of identifying and evaluating part of the shadow sector - the volume of hidden incomes of intermediaries in the real estate purchase and sale market property in order to ensure the budgetary and tax security of public legal entities has not been carried out at present." The authors operate on the concept of "whitewashing" the economy and identify the areas in which it is currently being carried out: the fight against "gray" wages, the digital transformation of the calculation and payment of taxes and fees for small businesses and individuals, the introduction of innovative tools for traceability of goods, the search for industries with uneven tax burden and point work with taxpayers, the search for new tax evasion schemes and their sanctification in the media. The publication presents a logical model developed in the course of the study for leveling the shadow economy of public legal entities in order to ensure their fiscal security based on digital public administration tools. The bibliographic list includes 33 sources – publications of foreign and domestic scientists on the topic of the article, as well as Internet resources to which there are address links in the text confirming the existence of an appeal to opponents. The Conclusions note that the algorithm developed by the author will reveal the approximate amount of hidden income by individual entrepreneurs and self-employed persons, however, specific testing and the calculated values of these values are unfortunately not given in the publication. The article reflects the results of the research conducted by the authors, corresponds to the direction of the journal "National Security / nota bene", contains elements of scientific novelty and practical significance, may arouse interest among readers, and is recommended for publication.