Tax Enforcement, Enterprise Tax Burden and Total Factor Productivity—Evidence from the Golden Tax Project Ⅲ Quasi-natural Experiment

Based on the quasi-natural experiment of the “Golden Tax Project III”, the study examines the impact of rising tax burden brought by the strengthening of tax enforcement on enterprises’ total factor productivity（TFP）. The results indicate that stricter tax enforcement significantly reduces the TFP of enterprises especially for those managed by local tax authorities, serious financing constraints and innovative enterprises, which still holds after numerous robustness tests. Further analyses imply that stricter tax enforcement and the increase of tax burden reduce the TFP of enterprises by weakening the efficiency of capital allocation and technological innovation. The study thus provides empirical evidence for deepening the reform of tax enforcement to support high-quality development with stricter tax enforcement.