Öz
Tax has many financial, economic and social purposes for the states. However, taxpayers feel it as a burden because the personal equivalent of the tax is not clear and it is taken by force. A fair and balanced distribution of the tax burden is very important to ensure tax compliance of taxpayers and to collect public revenues at an optimum level. This principle of the fair and balanced distribution of the tax burden is included in the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, as in the constitutions of many countries, so that the state does not ignore the understanding of social justice while using its taxation authority. However, there are serious imbalances in the interregional distribution of the tax burden in Turkey. This study examines the causes of interregional tax burden differences in Turkey. For this purpose, a grouping is made by identify the regions with high tax burden and the regions with low tax burden. Then, the effects of economic activity types, foreign trade transactions, informal employment rates and tax subsidies on tax burden in both regional groups are analyzed using panel data method. According to the analysis results, while tax subsidies and informal employment rates have a statistically significant and positive effect on the tax burden in regions with high tax burden, the agriculture sector have a negative effect. Regions with low tax burden, the agricultural sector, the industry sector, the services sector and informal employment rates have a negative effect. The results indicated that the growth in the agricultural sector in Turkey affects the tax burden negatively, whereas the effects of the industry and services sectors on the tax burden differ by regions