Analyzing the Research Landscape on Digital Tax: A Bibliometric Analysis of Digital Tax Worldwide

Abstract

The emergence of the digital economy has fundamentally changed traditional business models and tax frameworks. The digital services tax has been proposed as a strategic measure to address the taxation challenges posed by large digital businesses. This study uses a bibliometric analysis to examine the research environment related to the digital services tax. By analyzing articles published in the Scopus database between 2001 and 2023, this study investigates publication patterns, identifies prominent authors and institutions, and explores citation metrics. The study provides insight into the scientific discussion on the digital services tax, including the network on the co-occurrence of keywords, using VOSviewer. The data shows that scholars from all over the world have published 158 articles. According to the data, 107 of the 158 published documents (67.72%) come from articles as a source type. The data also shows that more than two-thirds of all articles originate from the social sciences. The article written by Mpofu from Zimbabwe ranked first in terms of dissemination and was cited a total of 17 times by academics. The keyword trends were also used to identify further research topics for this theme. This study provides valuable insights into the academic discourse on the digital services tax, including the global research focus, leading academics, and influential institutions. This comprehensive examination of the intellectual framework for the study of digital services tax provides valuable guidance for future research endeavors and ultimately contributes to a deeper understanding of the evolving landscape of digital taxation.