The Impact of Digital Governance on the Business Environment: the Case of Estonian Tax and Customs Board

Abstract

Digital governance offers tools for reducing transaction costs and compliance costs in the interactions among public, private and third sector as well as between individuals and government institutions. This research explores the effects of the digital services of Estonian Tax and Customs Board on enterprises that have an influence on the Estonian economy. The study also investigated improvements and developments expected by the enterprises in order to increase efficiency by reducing the administrative burden. The results of analysis indicate that usage of digital governance has a remarkable effect on raising the efficiency of enterprises by lessening the administrative burdens. Particular tax filing digital services can be executed by using on average 6.1 times less time compared with the same service being used in traditional manner. The real time economy in taxation has great potential to deliver positive outcomes, although attention should to be drawn involving the significant actors, when implementing the innovation.