Abstract: The in-depth application and continuous development of the digital economy can promote the increase of total economic volume, which in turn brings a larger space for the growth of tax revenue. To this end, based on the interpretation of the impact of digital economy development on tax revenue and its impact mechanism, this paper employs the inter-provincial panel data of China from 2011-2019 to empirically analyze such impact mechanism. It is found that: digital economic development can significantly promote the growth of tax revenue, and it presents heterogeneous characteristics among different industrial tax revenues, different tax types, and different sub-points. The results of mechanism analysis show that: the increase in industrialization strengthens the promotion effect of digital economic development on tax revenue; moreover, digital economic development raises tax revenue by promoting the advanced industrial structure. Further analysis results show that: there is a significant positive spatial correlation between the impact of digital economy development on tax revenue: digital economy development can not only significantly promote the growth of tax revenue within provinces, but also play a significant positive spillover effect on the growth of tax revenue in other provinces. Therefore, we should promote the construction of new industrialization, enhance the deep integration of digital economy and traditional economy, accelerate the evolution of advanced industrial structure, and strengthen the regional collaboration mechanism of digital economy development to narrow the “digital divide” between regions.

Key words: digital economy, tax revenue, advanced industrial structure, degree of industrialization, spatial correlation