The Role Of Accounting And Certified Public Accountants In The Prevention Of The Informal Economy In Turkey

The informal economy is a common problem in all countries; however when compared to the developed countries, it has particular significance in the economies of the developing countries. Looking to the causes and effects of the informal economy, it appears that the informal economy is a persistent problem even if numerous solution methods have been proposed. This is mainly because of its social, physiologic, legislative, political and ethical dimensions integral to its structure. In addition to these, there are also economic factors that are extremely complex. Although there are numerous studies conducted on the informal economy, it hasn’t been thoroughly examined in terms of accounting. What can accounting which is one of the disciplines most severely affected by the informal economy do about this problem? How can governments prevent enterprises from undertaking unrecorded activities? What the discipline accounting can do to take effective steps to solve this problem, whose main function is to collect and to report all the information and documents pertaining to the enterprises. To find answers to such questions constitutes the basis of the study. In this study by making the definition of the informal economy, the developmental stage of the informal economy in Turkey and in the world has been examined on a general level and what kind of contributions the discipline accounting and certified public accountants can make to prevent the growth of the informal economy have been discussed and relevant recommendations have been put forward.