“…According to Alm et al (2020), taxpayers may be less compliant if they assume the COVID-19 pandemic will lessen the frequency and severity of audits. Other studies also highlight the economic hardships faced by individuals and businesses during the pandemic (Dissanayake and Kirchler, 2021;Block et al, 2022), the challenges faced by tax administrations in enforcing tax compliance due to the closure of offices and suspension of audits (Dao and Hang, 2022;Haaland and Olden, 2022), and the shift in business operations or workers from the formal to the informal sector due to the restrictions on economic activities (Miranti et al, 2022;Webb et al, 2020;O'Reilly et al, 2020). Informal sector in recent context refers to unregistered firms or individuals that do not pay taxes, lack legal recognition, government protection or employment regulation, but are otherwise legal (Rothenberg et al, 2016;Webb et al, 2020).…”