Strategic priorities for reducing the scale of tax evasion in the agricultural sector

Lyudmila Usenko; Boris Mel&#039;nikov

VAK Russia 5.2.3 UDC 338

2 more Collapse

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR REDUCING THE SCALE OF TAX EVASION IN THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR Strategic priorities for reducing the scale of tax evasion in the agricultural sector

АА Аа

Published in Economic policy and national security · Issue 2 · Pages 87–101 · Rubric: Countering money laundering, corruption, and the Shadow Economy

Received: 22.03.2026 Accepted: 20.04.2026 Published: 30.04.2026

Authors

Lyudmila Usenko

ORCID

Boris Mel'nikov

Lyudmila Usenko

Academic degree: doctor of economic sciences

Science rang: professor

Rostovskiy gosudarstvennyy ekonomicheskiy universitet (RINH) Head of the Department · Head of the Department of Economic Activity Analysis and Forecasting · Russian Federation · Rostov-on-Don

ORCID

Boris Mel'nikov

Academic degree: doctor of economic sciences

I. T. Trubilin Kuban State Agricultural University Associate Professor · Department of Production Management and Innovation · Russian Federation

ABSTRACT

Introduction. Tax evasion in the agro-industrial sector has distinct industry-specific characteristics linked to the particular nature of agricultural producers’ economic activities: seasonality; a multi-faceted structure; the combination of production, primary processing and retail sales; and the existence of special tax regimes and reliefs. The introduction of digital traceability tools for agricultural produce has led to an increase in the complexity of tax evasion schemes used within the agro-industrial complex (hereinafter referred to as the AIC), and the state directly links eligibility for support measures to the legality of agricultural produce trade and the existence of a digital trail. The research aims to examine the specific nature of tax evasion in the agricultural sector and to develop recommendations for improving the effectiveness of risk-based tax control tools in the context of the digitalisation of interactions between government authorities and agricultural producers. Methods. The study is based on typical models of tax evasion presented in the analytical data of the Federal Tax Service, as well as methods for formalising and constructing indicative assessment systems. The results of the research showed that tax evasion in the agri-food sector has sector-specific characteristics linked to the fragmentation of businesses in order to retain the single agricultural tax and tax relief, the use of VAT chains involving ‘paper’ intermediaries, informal employment, the legalisation of products of unknown origin, ghost sites, and the manipulation of data on the origin and production of goods. A mathematical model for the comprehensive assessment of tax risk for agricultural producers has been proposed, based on a comparison of tax, cash flow and sector-specific digital footprints. Specific management recommendations are put forward regarding inter-agency data exchange and the selection of risk threshold indicators for preventive compliance in the agro-industrial complex, with the aim of reducing the scale of tax evasion.

KEYWORDS

tax evasion, digital traceability, risk-based control, integral assessment

Text

Text (PDF)

Read Download

1. Degengardt, Aleksandr A., and Oksana V. Shumakova. 2025. “Integral'naya model' cifrovoj logisticheskoj ekosistemy APK regiona na osnove koncepcij “Agrologistika 2.0”, “Infrastrukturnyj agromarketplejs” i seti blokchejn-IoT” [“An integrated model of the digital logistics ecosystem of the agro-industrial complex of the region has been developed based on the concepts of “Agrologistics 2.0”, “Infrastructural agromarketplace” and the blockchain-IoT network”] (In Russ.). Ekonomika, predprinimatel'stvo i pravo [Economics, Entrepreneurship and Law] 15, no. 6 (June):3897–916. https://doi.org/10.18334/epp.15.6.123368

2. Dudukalov, Egor V. [et al.]. 2022. “Strukturizaciya ekonomicheskogo prostranstva malyh form vedeniya biznesa v APK” [“Structuring the economic space of small business in the agro-industrial complex”] (In Russ.). Siberian Journal of Life Sciences and Agriculture 14, no. 2 (April):176–215.

3. Zajceva, Natal'ya S., and Dmitrij A. Kornilov. 2015. “Opredelenie faktorov ciklicheskoj neravnomernosti v ekonomike sel'skogo hozyajstva” [“Identification of factors of cyclical unevenness in the agricultural economy”] (In Russ.). Aekonomika: ekonomika i sel'skoe hozyajstvo [Aeronomics: Economics and Agriculture] 5, no. 1 (March):3. URL: http://aeconomy.ru/science/economy/opredeleniefaktorovtsiklicheskoy/

4. Il'in, Aleksandr Yu. 2021. “Osobennosti nalogooblozheniya sel'skohozyajstvennyh tovaroproizvoditelej: praktika pravoprimeneniya” [“Peculiarities of taxation of agricultural producers: law enforcement practice”] (In Russ.). Pravovoj al'manah [Legal Almanac] 7, no.3 (April):10–7. URL: https://pravovoyalmanah.ru/jurnal-in-7/

5. Litvinov, O. V. 2017. “Problemy administrirovaniya naloga na dobavlennuyu stoimost' v agrarnom sektore ekonomiki” [“Problems of value added tax administration in the agricultural sector of the economy”] (In Russ.). Uchet i statistika [Accounting and statistics] 46, no. 2 (June):10–5.

6. Melnikov, Aleksandr B. [et. al.]. 2026. “Aktual'nye aspekty protivodejstviya kriminalizacii i tenevoj ekonomiki v kontekste obespecheniya ekonomicheskoj bezopasnosti Rossii” [“Actual aspects of countering criminalization and the shadow economy in the context of ensuring Russia's economic security”] (In Russ.). Ekonomika i upravlenie: problemy, resheniya [Economics and management: problems, solutions] 166, vol. 5, no. 1 (January):72–8. https://doi.org/10.36871/ek.up.p.r.2026.01.05.008

7. Melnikov, Aleksandr B., and E. S. Erman, A. V. Sedova. 2025. “Protivodejstvie kriminalizacii i tenevoj ekonomike kak faktor ekonomicheskoj bezopasnosti” [“Countering criminalization and the shadow economy as a factor of economic security”] (In Russ.). Estestvenno-gumanitarnye issledovaniya [Natural sciences and humanities research] 60, no. 4 (August):339–45.

8. Muhanova, Maria N. 2018. “Neformal'nyj sektor v social'no-strukturnyh processah na regional'nyh rynkah truda APK” [“The informal sector in socio-structural processes in the regional labor markets of the agro-industrial complex”]. In: Mansurov V. A. (ed.) Stepnaya tsivilizatsiya – 2018. Zemlya predkov: traditsii i novatsii v sotsial'no-kul'turnom razvitii obshchestva [Steppe Civilization – 2018. Land of Ancestors: Traditions and Innovations in the Socio-Cultural Development of Society] 205–14. (In Russ.). Moskva : Rossiyskoye obshchestvo sotsiologov.

9. Nesterova, Aleksandra A., and Ol'ga V. Rybkina. 2025. “Mekhanizm vzaimodejstviya organov vnutrennih del i nalogovyh organov pri osushchestvlenii nalogovogo kontrolya” [“The mechanism of interaction between internal affairs bodies and tax authorities in the implementation of tax control”] (In Russ.). Altajskij yuridicheskij vestnik [Altai Law Bulletin] 52, no. 4 (December):109–16.

10. Nuzhdin, Roman V. [et al.]. 2022. “Uchetnaya nalogovaya politika po nalogu na dobavlennuyu stoimost' pererabatyvayushchih organizacij agropromyshlennogo kompleksa (APK)” [“Accounting tax policy on value added tax of processing organizations of the agro-industrial complex (AIC)”] (In Russ.). Nalogi i nalogooblozhenie [Taxes and Taxation], no. 6 (December):50–75. https://doi.org/10.7256/2454-065X.2022.6.38161

11. Orekhova, Svetlana V., and Andrey V. Misyura. 2021. “Promyshlennost' i sel'skoe hozyajstvo v Rossii: est' li priznaki predprinimatel'skoj ekosistemy?” [“Industry and agriculture in Russia: are there signs of an entrepreneurial ecosystem?”] (In Russ.). Journal of New Economy 22, no. 3 (September):69–83. https://doi.org/10.29141/2658-5081-2021-22-3-4

12. Polinskaya, Marina V. [et al.]. 2025. “Sostoyanie i perspektivy nalogovogo kontrolya v RF” [“The state and prospects of tax control in the Russian Federation”] (In Russ.). Vestnik Akademii znanij [Bulletin of the Academy of Knowledge] 66, no. 1 (February):714–8.

13. Timoshenko, Vladimir A. 2017. “Sovershenstvovanie kontrolya za ischisleniem i uplatoj NDS na baze ASK NDS-2” [“Improvement of control over the calculation and payment of VAT on the basis of the ASK VAT-2”] (In Russ.). Pravo i ekonomika [Law and Economics] 357, no. 11 (November):61–5.

14. Tihonova, Anna V., and Anna E. Gerasimova. 2025. “Razvitie nalogovoj podderzhki sel'skogo hozyajstva v kontekste povysheniya effektivnosti razlichnyh nalogovyh rezhimov” [“The development of tax support for agriculture in the context of increasing the effectiveness of various tax regimes”] (In Russ.). Ekonomicheskie i social'nye peremeny: fakty, tendencii, prognoz [Economic and social changes: facts, trends, forecast] 18, no. 2 (April):123–140. https://doi.org/10.15838/esc.2025.2.98.7

15. Tryascina, Nina Y., and Meri K. Dzhikiya, Nikita A. Tryascin. 2025. “Obespechenie finansovoj bezopasnosti organizacij APK: analiz i ocenka” [“Ensuring the financial security of agribusiness organizations: analysis and evaluation”] (In Russ.). Izvestiya Timiryazevskoj sel'skohozyajstvennoj akademii [Proceedings of the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy], no. 3 (June):187–201. https://doi.org/10.26897/0021-342X-2025-3-187-201

16. Usenko, Lyudmila N., and Konstantin P. Matveev. 2025. “Rol' ustojchivogo razvitiya sel'skogo hozyajstva v obespechenii prodovol'stvennoj bezopasnosti” [“The role of sustainable agricultural development in ensuring food security”] (In Russ.). Nauchnye trudy Vol'nogo ekonomicheskogo obshchestva Rossii [Scientific Papers of the Free Economic Society of Russia] 251, no. 1 (February):119–42. https://doi.org/10.38197/2072-2060-2025-251-1-119-142

17. Usenko, Lyudmila N., and V. A. Guzey. 2024. “Teoreticheskie aspekty issledovaniya vidov ustojchivosti v sisteme pokazatelej ustojchivogo razvitiya organizacii” [“Theoretical aspects of the study of types of sustainability in the system of indicators of sustainable development of the organization”] (In Russ.). Uchet i statistika [Accounting and statistics] 21, no. 1 (February):29–39. https://doi.org/10.54220/1994-0874.2024.91.65.004

18. Chalenko, Nikolaj N. 2024. “Vnedrenie risk-orientirovannogo podhoda v gosudarstvennyj finansovyj kontrol': metody i praktiki” [“The introduction of a risk-based approach to government financial control: methods and practices”] (In Russ.). Vestnik evrazijskoj nauki [Bulletin of Eurasian Science] 16, no. s6 (December):85. URL: https://esj.today/PDF/97FAVN624.pdf

19. Yakubovich, Ekaterina N. 2015. “Tenevaya ekonomika v agrarnom sektore strany” [“Shadow economy in the agricultural sector of the country”] (In Russ.). Nikonovskie chteniya [Nikon Readings], no. 20-1 (December):83–6.