Search

This study evaluates the impact of direct and indirect taxes, as well as public expenditure on transfers (monetary and in-kind, economic subsidies, healthcare, and education), on income distribution and poverty in Argentina. It utilizes a standard fiscal incidence analysis and combines data from the Permanent Household Survey (EPH) and the National Household Expenditure Survey (ENGHo). The findings indicate that fiscal policy has been a powerful instrument in reducing inequality and poverty. However, unusually high levels of public spending could potentially render the programs unsustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies police financing with a focus on the difference in the timing between federal and local government funds. In general, federal government funds came from income taxes collected before possible appropriative activities while local government funds came from consumption taxes collected afterwards. We find that income‐tax financing results in more workers, more police, and fewer thieves when appropriation and tax rates are the same between the two cases. Funding the police before possible appropriative activities works as a deterrence. Our findings show the complexity of studying crime and police financing even in a highly stylized model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many nations incentivize retirement saving by letting workers defer taxes on pension contributions, imposing them when retirees withdraw their funds. Using a dynamic life-cycle model, we show how 'Rothification' – that is, taxing 401(k) contributions rather than payouts – alters saving, investment, consumption, and Social Security claiming patterns. We find that taxing pension contributions instead of withdrawals leads to delayed retirement, somewhat lower lifetime tax payments, and relatively small reductions in consumption. Indeed, the two tax regimes generate quite similar relative inequality metrics: the relative consumption inequality ratio under taxed-exempt-exempt (TEE) is only 4% higher than that in the exempt-exempt-taxed (EET) case. Moreover, results indicate that the Gini measures are also strikingly similar under the EET and the TEE regimes for lifetime consumption, cash on hand, and 401(k) assets, differing by only 1–4%. While tax payments are higher early in life under the TEE regime, they are slightly lower in the long run. Moreover, higher EET tax payments are also accompanied by higher volatility. We therefore find few reasons for policymakers to favor either tax approach on egalitarian or revenue-enhancing grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the crucial task of forecasting tax revenue for India, specifically the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which plays a pivotal role in fiscal spending and taxation policymaking. Practically, the GST time series datasets exhibit linear and non-linear fluctuations due to the dynamic economic environment, changes in tax rates and tax base, and tax non-compliance, posing challenges for accurate forecasting. Traditional time-series forecasting methods like ARIMA, assuming linearity, often yield inaccurate results. To address this, we explore alternative forecasting models, including Trigonometric Seasonality Box-Cox Transformation ARIMA errors Trend Seasonal components (TBATS) and Neural Networks: Artificial Neural Networks (ANN), Neural Networks for Autoregression (NNAR), which capture both linear and non-linear relationships. First, we test single time series models like Exponential Smoothing (ETS), TBATS, ANN, and NNAR. Second, we also test hybrid models combining linear models, non-linear models, and neural network models. The findings reveal that the Hybrid Theta-TBATS model offers superior forecasting accuracy, challenging recent research favouring neural network models. The study highlights the effectiveness of advanced non-linear models, particularly TBATS and its hybridisations with linear models, in GST revenue forecasting. Our study also found that the single TBATS is the second-best model, which offers better forecasting accuracy. These insights have significant implications for policymakers and researchers in taxation and fiscal planning, emphasising the need to incorporate non-linear dynamics and advanced modelling techniques to enhance the accuracy of GST revenue forecasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Public Finance Studies / Maliye Çalismalari Dergisi is the property of Journal of Public Finance Studies / Maliye Calismalari Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Tax and expenditure limits (TELs) are an important fiscal institution for policymakers to restrain government taxing and spending. However, traditional theories have proposed different hypotheses about the effectiveness of TELs, and empirical studies have not been able to reach a consistent conclusion. In this article, we employ a meta-analysis to synthesize existing empirical evidence and explore why different studies find different results on the effect of TELs on state and local budgets. Our meta-analysis results show that TELs are associated with small but significant decreases in both state and local revenue and expenditure. The findings from a subsequent meta-regression analysis add to the TEL literature by showing that the design features of TELs, types of revenue, and level of government can all contribute to the observed variations in the effect of TELs on state and local budgets. The conclusion of this study sheds light on the long-standing debate over the impact of TELs and suggests useful ways for policymakers to improve their TEL designs and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We quantitatively investigate the welfare costs of increasing tax revenues in low-income countries. We consider three tax instruments: consumption, labour income and capital income taxes. The analysis is based on a general equilibrium model featuring heterogeneous agents, incomplete financial markets, and rural and urban areas. We calibrate the model to Ethiopia and decompose the welfare costs into their aggregate and distributional components. We find that changing taxes alter the composition of demand. This, together with limited labour mobility, causes the incidence of higher taxes to fall disproportionately on the rural population, regardless of the instrument. Consumption taxes are the instrument with the largest welfare loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the possible effects of globalization on taxation policies in Turkey from 1998 to 2020. The results reveal that globalization has asymmetrical effects on taxation policies. Globalization positively affects taxation on capital income, whereas it negatively affects taxation on labour income. In addition, in the analysis conducted, no statistically significant relationship is found between globalization and taxation on consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transportation sector is considered a major contributor to the release of the carbon emissions in the atmosphere. The present research explores the effect of traffic, environmental taxes and expenditures on transport-related carbon emissions. We apply a cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lags estimator for short- and long-run estimates by using panel data for 35 OECD countries. We demonstrate traffic increase transport-related carbon emissions by 14.65% on average. Transport-related carbon emissions will rise by 1.5% over the near term as a result of the combined effect rail and road-vehicles, and energy consumption. Environmental expenditures and green transportation, on the other hand, will cut transportation emissions by 21.7% and 45.20% in the short and long runs, respectively. Furthermore, the findings reveal an inverted u-shaped link between transportation-related carbon emissions and consumption. Based on real-world evidence, this study advises that some countries reduce traffic while simultaneously increasing spending on the development of environmentally friendly transportation options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are budget deficits eliminated by tax increases or by spending cuts? This paper provides a new perspective on this issue by analyzing fiscal plan data, as they are closely related to budget decisions of the legislative branch and are less correlated with macroeconomic developments during the fiscal year. We examine a novel historical dataset on Switzerland from 1850 to 2018 using (nonlinear) cointegration tests and error correction models. First, our historical analysis indicates that realized budget adjustments usually occurred through revenues and that fiscal plans are specifically crucial for short-term budget dynamics. Second, a recursive estimation approach shows that the adjustment relationships vary over time. In addition, our dynamic analysis provides evidence that budgetary imbalances are addressed by adjusting expenditures in plans in the last decades in contrast to realized adjustments, which benefited from underestimated revenues. However, initial indications suggest that the debt containment rule counteracts this asymmetry. Finally, from a policy perspective, our results stress the importance of fiscal plans in budget adjustment processes and the design properties of fiscal rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One way to reduce inequality and poverty is to promote tax justice. In 2021, the government of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, implemented a program (the Devolve-ICMS Program) that refunds consumption tax to low-income citizens (cashback). This study aims to evaluate the impacts of this Program using a differences-in-differences model and having, as response variables, the monthly sum of electronic invoices issued to the Program's beneficiaries, as well as their value. The database used includes all invoices issued to the target population during the 12 months before the Program's implementation and the 14 months after its implementation, resulting in 7.7 million records. To receive the tax refund, the eligible population must pick up a Citizen Card, made available by the state government, which was done by a significant part of this population. The treatment group is composed of eligible citizens who have the Card, whereas the control group comprises eligible citizens who do not have it. The results show that the Program is effective, as it has reduced tax pressure on poor people and increased both the number of invoices issued and their value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tax and expenditure limits (TELs) are restrictions placed on governments limiting their ability to collect and spend revenue. Residents support these TELs, as they desire lower tax burdens and more government efficiency; yet, residents still desire the same level of public services. Property tax rate limits, a specific type of TEL, are placed upon local governments to limit their ability to collect revenue and expand authority. Rate limits were implemented on the assumption that governments would tax at their highest maximum possible rate, but this is not always the case. This article studies why some local governments choose not to utilize their maximum allotted property tax rate. Using an open systems governance approach, a panel data analysis was conducted using data from 67 Florida counties from 2008 to 2017. Results of the analysis show that the use of special districts and the age of the residential population have significant effects on property tax rate decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies whether Peru's excise tax refund of 30% for fuel purchases has had the effect of increasing formalization in the intercity passenger ground transport market and whether the resulting tax expenditure has been fruitful in increasing investment in vehicles. Based on a partial equilibrium market framework, transport operators are segmented among formal, informal and illegal operators, and a new methodology to measure how the tax refund makes these operators change their market shares is perfected. Evidence shows that the tax refund has worked by augmenting the market share of formal but not informal operators, thus increasing the overall formalization of the passenger transport market. This contradicts the Ministry of Finance impact evaluation asserting that market formalization has not occurred because informal operators did not take advantage of the tax refund and did not convert into formal operators. An epilogue challenges a 2020 government decree establishing a new tax refund no longer intended to reduce informality but rather to reduce accident rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Destination-Based Cash Flow Tax: The Destination-Based Cash Flow tax (DBCFT; Auerbach, [5]) is a consumption-based replacement for the corporate income tax rather than a full consumption tax. Other consumption taxes, like the X-tax and personal expenditure tax, feature graduated rates. CONSUMPTION TAXES A consumption tax, most simply, is a tax on what people spend on goods and services. Personal Expenditure Tax: A personal expenditure tax (PET) imposes a tax on wages and net capital income ( I W i + I R i - I I i ) like the flat tax and X-tax. [Extracted from the article]

The spread of the concept of tax expenditures in many countries of the world resulted in the creation of the Global Tax Expenditures Database which included information from Ukraine where regular reporting is conducted on tax benefits which are losses of budget revenues. However, this reporting is incomplete, since it does not include tax expenditures on personal income tax. The introduction of reporting on tax expenditures on this tax puts on the agenda the problem of identifying the elements of its benchmark and tax expenditures. The purpose of this article is to substantiate their main components. The research was carried out using general scientific methods of cognition: critical analysis, combination of normative (conceptual) and positive (legal) approaches, abstract-logical and concrete, comparative analysis. Based on the results of the study, groups of elements that can be attributed to the benchmark of the tax have been identified: incomes provided from sources defined by international treaties of Ukraine; payments that do not increase the taxpayer's income; incomes whose exemption from taxes ensures the avoidance of double taxation; expenses related to receiving income; incomes that are not included in the taxable amount due to the difficulties of their administration; exclusion from the taxable amount of the revenues that may not qualify as tax expenditures due to small amounts. Tax benefits that can be included in the budget of tax expenditures on the income tax have been identified and classified according to the form of provision and functional orientation. Although only certain provisions of the income tax legislation have been identified, their classification into subgroups may facilitate the determination of the remaining components of the benchmark and tax expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As part of the Global Strategy on Oral health, the World Health Organization (WHO) is exploring cost-effective interventions for oral health, including taxation on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). To inform this process, this umbrella review aimed to identify the best available estimates pertaining to the impact of SSB taxation on the reduction of sugars intake, and the sugars-caries dose–response, such that estimates of the impact of SSB taxation on averting dental caries in both high (HIC) and low and middle (LMIC) countries be available. Methods: The questions addressed were: (1) what are the effects of SSB taxation on consumption of SSBs and (2) sugars? (3) What is the effect on caries of decreasing sugars? and (4) what is the likely impact of a 20% volumetric SSB tax on the number of active caries prevented over 10 years? Data sources included PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, Dentistry and Oral Sciences Source, Cochrane Library, Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Systematic Review Register, and PROSPERO. The review was conducted with reference to JBI guidelines. The quality of included systematic reviews was assessed using AMSTAR to identify best evidence. Results: From 419 systematic reviews identified for questions 1 & 2, and 103 for question 3, 48 (Questions 1 & 2) and 21 (Question 3) underwent full text screening, yielding 14 and five included reviews respectively. Best available data indicated a 10% tax would reduce SSB intake by 10.0% (95% CI: -5.0, 14.7%) in HIC and by 9% (range -6.0 to 12.0%) in LMIC, and that a 20% tax would reduce free sugars intake on average by 4.0 g/d in LMIC and 4.4 g/d in HIC. Based on best available dose response data, this could reduce the number of teeth with caries per adults (HIC and LMIC) by 0.03 and caries occurrence in children by 2.7% (LMIC) and 2.9% (HIC), over a 10-year period. Conclusion: Best available data suggest a 20% volumetric SSB tax would have a modest impact on prevalence and severity of dental caries in both HIC and LMIC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine Granger causality between state expenditures and tax revenues in the US with Balanced-Budget Requirements (BBRs). BBRs are statutory or constitutional rules to prevent states from spending more than tax revenues. Policymakers may adjust taxes, change expenditures, or do both to achieve BBRs. Panel VAR is introduced to address endogenous interactions between state expenditures and tax revenues. Panel VAR provides a unifying empirical framework and identification strategy which might be lacking in the previous literature. The empirical result supports that tax revenues Granger cause state expenditures. As BBRs are about planning, tax revenues make states plan on how to spend them. Considering BBRs with the empirical results from this study, states expenditures should be adjusted close to (projected) tax revenues. Additionally, this study finds that the business cycle has counter-intuitive effects. Tax revenues did not change when the US experienced the recession during 2008-2009 with the increases in intergovernmental transfer from the federal. State expenditures also increased during the recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a research or scientific work, previous research or related research is very important. Previous or relevant research helps strengthen the theories and phenomena that underlie the relationship or influence between variables. This article examines the aspects that influence the application of VAT, namely: the amount of PKP, tax and consumption incentives, a literature study on state financial management. The aim of this article is to provide hypotheses about factor influence for use in future studies. The findings from this literature review are as follows: Amount of PKP, Tax Incentives, Consumption and Inflation affect VAT Receipts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the empirical research is to compare the revenues of the Romanian and Swedish state budgets in the period 2006-2021. In the course of the research, I thoroughly analyse the three main income groups: fiscal incomes, social security contributions and non-fiscal incomes, as well as the presentation of the main groups of fiscal incomes. An important part of the study is the comparison on the role of consumption taxes from the perspective of the Romanian and Swedish budgets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatilities are relative to the volatility of output, except HT ht , which is the level of volatility around its steady state (as in Arseneau and Chugh [1]). I Proof. i I briefly sketch the proof here and provide the details in appendixes A and B. To derive (11), we need to derive the first-order conditions of the Ramsey problem with respect to HT ht , SB I t i sb , I n SB t sb i , and I s SB t sb i . In this case, we will have a Ramsey corner solution where HT ht . [Extracted from the article]

According to German income tax law, a large number of private expenses are deductible when determining the tax base. These are expenses that do not serve to generate income. The legislature has allowed them to be deducted in order to make it easier for the citizens concerned to finance the existential needs of themselves and those they support and to trigger incentives for certain socially desirable activities e. g. through donations to non-profit organizations. The reduction in the tax burden caused by their deduction increases with the amount of taxable income, which contradicts the principle of fair taxation. It is proposed that the relief in question should in future be regulated by a deduction of 25 percent of the permissible private expenditure from the tax liability according to tariff. Furthermore, the replacement of the current tariff regulated according to mathematical formulas by a tariff completely regulated in stages of constant marginal tax rates is proposed. Simulation calculations show that the tax reform leads to a relief for lower to middle incomes and an additional burden for higher income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the global ecological environment deteriorating, the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) concept advocates that economic growth and environmental protection must go hand in hand. Green taxations, in particular, are critical to economic development as they serve as a key lever for the government in regulating the national economy and improving environmental quality. This paper aims to examine the pollution reduction effect of green taxation in China. We constructed fixed effect model using provincial panel data from 2012 to 2017 to empirically examine the effect of green taxation—including environment protection tax, consumption tax, resource tax, and vehicle purchase tax—on pollution emissions. The findings show that environmental protection tax has a significant inhibitory effect on exhaust gas emissions but a poor inhibitory effect on wastewater and industrial solid waste emissions. Other green taxations—consumption tax, resource tax, and vehicle purchase tax—do not have an ideal inhibitory effect on pollution emissions. The paper concludes with policy recommendations organized around improving the environmental protection tax, actively promoting the ESG concept, and optimizing the top-level design of the green taxation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Taxation on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) has been adopted in more than 40 countries but remained under discussion in Vietnam. This study aimed to estimate the health impacts of different SSBs tax plans currently under discussion to provide an evidence base to inform decision-making about a SSBs tax policy in Vietnam. Method & findings: Five tax scenarios were modelled, representing three levels of price increase: 5%, 11% and 19–20%. Scenarios of the highest price increase were assessed across three different tax designs: ad valorem, volume-based specific tax & sugar-based specific tax. We modelled SSBs consumption in each tax scenario; how this reduction in consumption translates to a reduction in total energy intake and how this relationship in turn translates to an average change in body weight and obesity status among adults by applying the calorie-to weight conversion factor. Changes in type 2 diabetes burden were then calculated based on the change in average BMI of the modelled cohort. A Monte Carlo simulation approach was applied on the conversion factor of weight change and diabetes risk reduction for the sensitivity analysis. We found that the taxation that involved a 5% price increase gave relatively small impacts while increasing SSBs' price up to 20% appeared to impact substantially on overweight and obesity rates (reduction of 12.7% and 12.4% respectively) saving 27 million USD for direct medical cost. The greatest reduction was observed for overweight and obesity class I. The decline in overweight and obesity rates was slightly higher for women than men. Conclusion: This study supports the SSB tax policy in pursuit of public health benefits, especially where the tax increase involves around a 20% price increase. The health benefit and revenue gains were evident across all three tax designs with the specific tax based on sugar density achieving greatest effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, the governments of several countries around the world have focused on consumption taxes, which they use from two important points of view - the first point of view is the state budget, where through the increase of the point of consumption tax, revenues to the budget are increased. The second, no less important point of view is health and the environment. These political goals and the structure of consumption taxes as a means of influencing the consumption behavior of the population are, in many ways, the same in OECD countries. However, the difference is in the specific rates within the individual OECD countries, which independently set the consumption tax amount at their discretion. METHODS: The tax burden on specific goods subject to excise duty can differ significantly due to the application of reduced rates e.g. This regulation of alcohol consumption tax should positively affect alcohol consumption and alcohol addictions in the studied OECD countries. Data sources for this researchcomparative analysis were available from the WHO, GISAH, CDC, Tax Foundation, OECD and Eurostat. RESULTS: The presented analysis points to the results of research focused on the impact of consumption taxes (specifically consumption taxes on alcohol) on the development of alcohol addiction in selected OECD countries and Slovakia. CONCLUSIONS: By comparing the results of analyses in selected countries, we concluded that the increase in excise taxes on alcohol does not directly affect the consumption of alcohol in the country and the related addiction to alcohol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union's new Foreign Subsidies Regulation will lead to particular challenges in the tax domain. While the final version of the FSR now contains clear links to State aid, the differences are all the more noticeable. Third country tax measures that benefit group financing or equity financing warrant special attention. Repayment of foreign tax incentives to the European Commission, as a last resort measure, might come at odds with taxing prerogatives as divided under existing bilateral tax treaties. Compliance with notification obligations when engaging in public procurement or planning a merger with or acquisition of an entity active in the EU will be hardly doable. Unlike EU State aid rules (and WTO subsidy rules), notification may also involve non-selective and non-beneficial tax measures received within a group. If these have come into the FSR's scope by intent and not by omission, then this is to be strongly reconsidered. Sustainability tax incentives aimed at greening investment have not been exempt from scrutiny. Thus, EU subsidiaries of third country parent companies and EU parents of third country subsidiaries should gather more information for the purpose of this regulation than one might expect at first sight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value-added tax (VAT) is meant to be an efficient and self-enforcing tax on consumption. Yet, being a rather sophisticated tax, the VAT can also be complex and costly to administer. By examining the case of Rwanda, this paper assesses the extent to which the VAT's potential materialises in the context of a lower-income countries. Using a mixed-methods approach, which combines qualitative information from focus group discussions with the analysis of administrative and survey data, this paper makes two contributions. First, it documents reporting inconsistencies in VAT data, providing new evidence on how weak capacity prevents tax administrations in lower-income countries from reaping the full benefits of the VAT. Second, it shows that the VAT, as applied in practice, differs substantially from its theoretical functioning. This generates differences in tax burdens across firms, despite a proportional tax rate, with important distributional implications. We also document that the VAT chain often breaks down, with implications on the VAT's efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gifts to government might provide warm glow to some citizens, especially if they can be earmarked toward specific government activities. We develop a model in which such gifts may be privately worthwhile, even for those people who evade taxes, and describe the conditions under which this will be the case. The latter can occur when the warm glow of transferring money to the government via gifts is higher than the warm glow from transferring the money via paying taxes, and additionally, the marginal rate of substitution of warm glow from "donating" to the public good for private good is sufficiently high. We then conduct empirical analyses of explicit gifts to the US federal government over the last century. Although small compared to either federal taxes and expenditures or donations to charitable organizations, we show that they are systematically, although fairly weakly, related to measures of government fiscal activity. The war years and their immediate aftermath dominate the systematic relationships we uncover. This suggests that these gifts are not simply the random, and randomly timed, behavior of an unrepresentative sample of Americans and that this behavior might warrant further empirical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the High Court has settled upon a broad view of "excise" in s 90 of the Constitution, it has excluded from that term a "true" consumption tax, a tax imposed upon the act of consumption. A Victorian tax on zero and low-emission vehicles imposes such a tax, and is under constitutional challenge. This article explains relevant case law on s 90 as it relates to this question. It considers arguments in favour of and against including "true" consumption taxes within the meaning of excise in s 90. It concludes there are stronger arguments, based on precedent, logic and public policy, favouring the inclusion of such taxes within the meaning of excise in the Constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is devoted to the study of the effect of innovation on tax evasion. More specifi cally, we study the impact of research and development expenditure on the effective tax rate. We used a sample of 226 U.S. S&P 500 index technology companies over the period from 2010 to 2019. Our regression results reveal that research and development intensity plays an important role in determining changes in effective tax rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A structural VAR approach is used to examine the role of monetary and fiscal policies in explaining macroeconomic fluctuations in Ethiopia. The main results are that an increase in government spending has an expansionary effect on output, while shocks in net taxes have a contractionary effect, with relatively small and statistically significant spending and net tax multipliers; that fiscal shocks are shown to have no significant effect on the exchange rate and a statistically significant effects inflation; that contractionary monetary policy is associated with a fall in output; and that the contributions of fiscal policy shocks are larger than that of monetary policy shocks in explaining movements in output, with roughly equivalent contributions coming from shocks in fiscal policy components. Moreover, the effect of fiscal and monetary policy shocks on output improved qualitatively and quantitatively when both policy variables were jointly examined rather than estimating them separately, suggesting the importance of joint analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy crisis caused by global structural changes in the economic sphere is the cause accelerating the energy transition based on the concept of sustainable development. This study is to test the hypothesis about the incentive effect of tax expenditures on alternative energy and energy conservation. The objects of empirical research are the EU, OECD countries, OECD partner countries and Russia from 2018–2020. The tools of scientific research are based on methods of economic–statistical and comparative analysis and expert judgments. The concept of tax expenditures in terms of decarbonization is analyzed using a systematic approach. The integrated methodological approach shows the relationship between the tax policy and government strategies in achieving sustainable development goals to ensure the transition to rational energy consumption patterns and sustainable energy sources. The authors analyze incentives for the energy sector and alternative energy sources in the considered groups of countries, and they assess the scale of tax expenditures in the energy sector for OECD countries. There are two types of tax expenditures for achieving environmental sustainability—increasing renewable energy sources and improving the energy efficiency. The authors apply the multivariate average formula to assess the scale of tax incentives in OECD countries. The results are typified depending on the scale of tax expenditures as one of the tools and these results are grouped according to the dynamics. In the presented sample, a wide range of tax benefits and preferences is typical for the leading countries in the ranking. The countries at the bottom of the ranking support fossil fuels, but they have already started the energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines, in depth, the hypotheses explaining the tax effort of seven West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries over the period 1996–2018. The studies of Karakaplan and Kutlu were applied to the stochastic tax frontier model. This provides a new method for analyzing tax effort that solves potential endogeneity problems, especially those of income. This study confirms the positive impact of income, trade openness, urbanization, government capital spending and anticorruption on tax revenue mobilization, while the size of the agricultural sector has a negative impact on tax revenue. On the other hand, reforms of tax institutions have no effect on tax effort. The average tax revenue of the countries of the WAEMU is 11.34 and the average tax effort is estimated at 0.7901 over the period 1996–2018. Thus, these countries could achieve a tax revenue to GDP ratio of 13.72% if they fully exploit their potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Miranda Stewart has chosen for her cover image of I Tax and Government in the 21st Century i a segment of Lorenzetti's fresco depicting good government. Miranda Stewart also analyses tax expenditures (known to their critics as tax loopholes), noting the measurement challenges that are inherent in estimating them. In the realm of multinational taxation, I Tax and Government in the 21st Century i takes a deep dive into the challenges posed by tax havens and so-called stateless income. [Extracted from the article]

Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits were a central part of the social safety net during the COVID‐19 recession. UI benefits, however, are severely understated in surveys. Using administrative tax data, we find that over half of UI benefits were missed in major survey data, with a greater understatement among low‐income workers. As a result, 2020 official poverty rates were overstated by about 2 percentage points, and corrected poverty reached a six‐decade low. We provide data to correct underreporting in surveys and show that, compared to UI benefits, the UI exclusion tax expenditure was less targeted at low incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state budget being the most important budget within the general consolidated budget. The objective of the empirical research undertaken is to analyze the Romanian state budget evolution between 2006 - 2021. In the empirical research, we performed the descriptive analysis of state budget (fiscal revenue, social contributions and non-fiscal revenue). At the same time, in the framework of the empirical research undertaken, we used t-Test: Two-Sample Assuming Equal Variances to compare the consumption taxes (VAT and excise duties) and the other fiscal taxes. The most important tax for the state budget is the VAT (indirect tax), after that comes the excise duties revenue (indirect tax) and the third is the profit tax (direct tax). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Declines in low-skill labour shares are reviewed, and a stylised model is constructed to examine their determinants and future implications. A retrospective analysis of US shocks suggests that technological change has contributed more to raising income inequality and the wealth to GDP ratio than other changes. An anticipated future twist away from low-skill labour toward the capital, combined with population growth, risks high unemployment rates. Productivity growth at twice the pace since 1990 limits this, though inequality persists. Analysis shows that a generalisation of the US ‘earned income tax credit’ system with consumption tax outperforms alternatives of the ‘universal basic income’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate government spending and tax multipliers in the United States via a flexible proxy‐SVAR model, where identification is achieved by combining fiscal and non‐fiscal instruments with additional parametric restrictions. We find that, while the spending multiplier is robustly estimated to be larger than one across different models, the estimate of the tax multiplier is sensitive to the combination of instruments that we use. We unveil that the key factor behind these heterogeneous estimates is the assumption of orthogonality between total factor productivity (our main non‐fiscal proxy) and the tax shock. If this assumption is imposed, the tax multiplier is around one. If it is not imposed, the tax multiplier is three times as large. Our results point to the need of accounting for the large uncertainty surrounding the tax multiplier for the design of optimal fiscal policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the effects of fiscal policy in an economy with efficiency wages, consumption taxes and a common income tax rate. Design/methodology/approach: A dynamic general-equilibrium model with the government sector is calibrated to Bulgarian data (1999–2018). Two regimes are compared and contrasted – the exogenous (observed) vs optimal policy (Ramsey) case. Findings: The main findings are as follows: (1) The optimal steady-state income tax rate is zero. (2) The benevolent Ramsey planner provides three times lower amount of the utility-enhancing public services. (3) The optimal steady-state consumption tax needed to finance the optimal level of government spending is 18.7%. Originality/value: The focus of the paper is on the relative importance of consumption vs income taxation, as well as on the provision of utility-enhancing public services. Bulgarian economy was chosen as a case study due to its major dependence on consumption taxation as a source of tax revenue. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2021-0488. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous fiscal imbalances fuel the future increase of tax burdens with significant damping effects on household consumption. This paper investigates how the distribution of income tax and expenditure tax varies across population groups in South Africa using provincial level data spanning the period from 1995 to 2017. Empirical findings suggest that besides economic conditions, demographic changes exert a robust effect on tax composition and such association is not only subject to heterogeneity but also to spatial dependence. Results from spatial panel error models indicate that economic growth, trade openness and population ageing fuel spending taxes as they exhibit a negative impact on the income to expenditure tax ratio while output gap and population development help raise income taxes. This confirms that South African elderly population endures the tax load as population ages due to the excess demand for goods and services that spurs expenditure rather than income taxes. Therefore, a tax rebate policy on elderly purchase could be considered to minimise old age tax burden, which in turn, contributes to fiscal equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers nominally pay the consumption tax, but theoretical and empirical evidence is mixed on whether corporations partly shoulder this burden, thereby affecting corporate investment. Using a quasi-natural experiment, we show that consumption taxes decrease investment. Firms facing more elastic demand decrease investment more strongly, because they bear more of the consumption tax. We corroborate the validity of our findings using 86 consumption tax changes in a cross-country panel. We document two mechanisms underlying the investment response: reduced firms' profitability and lower aggregate consumption. Importantly, the magnitude of the investment response to consumption taxes is similar to that of corporate taxes. Received September 25, 2017; editorial decision August 26, 2018 by Editor Wei Jiang. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to integrate temptation preferences into the theory of optimal taxation with heterogenous agents and asymmetric information. Consumers are tempted to over-consume a commodity which may lead to an over-supply of labor. Resisting this temptation implies a utility cost and any policy that reduces this cost is welfare improving. We uncover novel channels for government intervention and the interaction between the welfare improving and redistributive roles of public policy. We also identify a commitment mechanism that works through the endogenous labor choice and affects the design and effectiveness of the optimal tax policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With VAT being one of (if not the) largest contributors to country budgets, many Governments are preoccupied with maximising VAT collections. However, a simplistic view of increasing the VAT rate is not appropriate, as research shows there is inverse relationship between marginal collections and marginal VAT rates. Instead, as results in this Generalized Method of Moments estimation proposed by this paper shows, Governments should look at effective rates of taxation based on the composition of their economy. Also, providing generalized or large-scale reductions or exemptions depresses the effective rate of taxation and reduces the VAT productivity index, although we see them as very popular in European Union countries. A connected but important area is the level of collection, which is influenced by a cumulus of factors, starting with the tax rate (negative correlation), to digitalisation of the administration (positive correlation) and economic culture of a country (positive correlation). In any case, consumption taxes such as VAT seem to be less distortionary to economic activity and investment than direct taxes, so more attention is required to setting an optimal VAT rate that generates maximum marginal collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Galician Journal of Economics / Revista Galega de Economía is the property of Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Servicio de Publicaciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Tobacco Industry is one of the largest in the world, with very high impact in global economy, widely known as the fourth largest market in the world. In Albania tobacco industry is also an important part of the country's economy, a market that experiences great dynamics of changes both in terms of import and in relation to the production of tobacco for export. Albania applies only a specific excise tax, having the lowest tax burden on tobacco among Western Balkan countries. The total tax burden on cigarettes stands around 66% of the retail selling price (RSP) for a pack of 20 cigarettes of the most sold brand. This paper aims to study all the dynamics of tobacco market in Albania, changes in tobacco taxation and the impact of these changes in Albanian economy. Thus, this paper focuses on analyzing the impact of tobacco taxation on tobacco consumption. At the end of the paper, the impact of changing its control policies on smoking behavior and exposure to advertising, if any, will be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of environmental taxes can encourage a shift toward eco-friendly choices. When used in conjunction with other policy tools available, environmental taxes can help bring about the adjustments needed in order to address our current environmental and climate challenges. Therefore the objective of this study was to examine the impact of environmental taxes on energy consumption and energy intensity using panel data covering the period 1995–2014 from 35 OECD countries. I employed environmental tax to total tax ratio, total energy consumption, and total energy intensity to estimate the relation between energy consumption and environmental taxes. Using the fully modified and dynamic OLS techniques and I showed that environmental taxes have a negative effect on energy consumption and energy intensity in the long run. Furthermore, using the Dumitrescu and Hurlin's panel granger causality test I found a bi-directional long-run causality between environmental taxes and energy consumption and intensity. With regards to the disaggregated effect of environmental taxes, this study found that energy taxes (including CO2 taxes) have a larger effect on energy consumption and energy intensity than pollution and transport taxes. To test for the robustness and sensitivity of my model, I resorted to the total environmental tax to GDP ratio and employed both GMM and quantile regressions. Thus, I concluded that environmental taxes have a significant impact on energy consumption and energy intensity among OECD member countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a neoclassical model with endogenous growth, this study examines the effects of increasing housing taxation and eliminating the mortgage interest tax deduction on economic growth and household welfare in the United States. The optimal tax policy reduces taxation of income in favor of increased taxation of housing and consumption. This policy increases the growth rate by 0.49 percentage points. In addition, simply shifting the tax burden by reducing the tax rates on productive forms of capital toward housing can increase the growth rate up to 0.18 percentage points. This study also find that eliminating the income tax deduction on mortgage interest and lowering income taxes would increase growth by about 0.016 percentage points. Each of these proposed policies improves household welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong sugary drink taxes are effective at reducing sugary drinks consumption. In response, the sugary drinks industry employs various marketing strategies to undermine the taxes to protect and maintain its customer base. In their recent article in this journal, Forde et al present a framework for understanding how sugary drinks companies use marketing for this purpose. In this commentary, we reflect on this framework by drawing from recent experiences of sugary drinks industry marketing responses. Further, we review the global evidence on the instrumental role that strategic communication can play in protecting strong taxes from industry responses. We make a case for strategic communication as a vital tool in promoting and protecting sugary drinks tax proposals, both prior to and after their introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]