Tax Transparency, Knowledge and Awareness Dynamics in Cross-Border E-Commerce: The Case of Türkiye

With digitalized trade, consumers encounter various tax liabilities in their purchases from different countries; this situation directly affects their decisions. This research aims to examine the tax factors affecting consumer behavior in the digitalizing global trade environment from a holistic perspective. In particular, the effects of tax-related knowledge level, awareness and transaction transparency perceptions on purchasing decisions in cross-border e-commerce were evaluated. Data were collected via an online survey with convenience sampling method between June 5–15, 2025 and analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings revealed that only the Perceived Transaction Transparency variable had a significant and high level of effect on purchasing behavior. On the other hand, the direct effects of Tax Knowledge Level and Tax Awareness and Perception were not found to be statistically significant. This result suggests that the clarity and accessibility of tax-related information is more influential on consumer behavior than its mere presence.