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on Public Finance |
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Issue of 2017‒04‒23
eight papers chosen by |
| By: | Céline Antonin (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques); Vincent Touze (Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques) |
| Abstract: | This article addresses the issue of capital taxation relying on three levels of analysis. The first level deals with the multiple ways to tax capital (income or value, proportional or progressive taxation, and the temporality of the taxation) and presents some of France's particular features within a heterogeneous European context. The second area of investigation focuses on the main dynamic properties generated by capital taxation: the principle of equivalence with a tax on consumption; the issue of double taxation if it targets taxation of nominal income; neutrality of the uniform tax on the capital value; lastly, the risk of confiscatory taxation if there is a disjunction between taxation of the value and the income. The final level ofanalysis consists in assessing the debate on the optimal level of capital taxation drawing on the lessons in the literature. These discussions are organized into eight themes: (1) double taxation, (2) optimal growth, (3)property, (4) tax competition, (5) supervisory arguments, (6) measuring capital gains, (7) complexity and (8) fiscal stability |
| Keywords: | Taxation; Savings; Accumulation of capital |
| JEL: | D90 E21 H20 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4cl38kom1f8d9op7lrto184dm8&r=pub |
| By: | Erwan MOUSSAULT (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of the tax system on intergenerational family transfers in an overlapping generation model of a closed economy, with endogenous human capital growth. We limit ourselves to simple tax structures with labor and inheritance taxes. When public debt is an available instrument for the government, we show that the fiscal policy used to achieve the long run optimal endogenous growth improves the individuals' consumption of the first generations. In this case, the government reduces the tax burden on labor, encourages human capital development and puts in place a redistributive policy. If the public debt is not available, the government does not pursue a redistributive policy, both tax rates implemented are higher and the long run human capital growth is greater as well. In all cases, the optimal inheritance tax rate is higher than the optimal tax rate on labor income. |
| Keywords: | family transfers, debt, altruism, growth, optimal taxation. |
| JEL: | D64 H21 H23 H63 I31 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2017-04&r=pub |
| By: | William A. Pizer; Steven Sexton |
| Abstract: | Despite popularity among economists for their efficiency, energy pollution taxes enjoy less political support than standards-based regulation because of common perceptions that they burden the poor relative to the rich. However, the literature on pollution tax incidence and consumption surveys in Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States, suggest energy taxes need not be as regressive as often assumed. This paper demonstrates that the incidence of such taxes varies according to the energy commodities that are taxed, the physical, social and climatic characteristics of jurisdictions in which they are implemented, and how the revenue is used. It is also shown that the variation in household energy expenditure within income groups is greater than variation across income groups in many cases. These horizontal equity impacts are reviewed, as are their implications for policy making. |
| JEL: | H22 Q41 Q48 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23318&r=pub |
| By: | James M. Otto |
| Abstract: | The taxation of the mining industry varies considerably from nation to nation. This paper reflects on the evolving use of various taxation approaches applied by governments to the mining sector. It includes a description of the principal tax types and investment tax incentives and briefly describes the main policy issues pertaining to mineral sector taxation. The author concludes that governments when devising mineral sector fiscal systems should carefully assess their fiscal options in a holistic approach that anticipates commodity price cycles, and that mining companies should anticipate fiscal system changes that reflect the evolution of the political economy in which they operate. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2017-75&r=pub |
| By: | Alex Cobham; Petr Janský |
| Abstract: | International corporate tax is an important source of government revenue, especially in lower-income countries. An important recent study of the scale of this problem was carried out by International Monetary Fund researchers Ernesto Crivelli, Ruud De Mooij, and Michael Keen. We first re-estimate their innovative model, and then explore the effects of introducing higher-quality revenue data from the ICTD–WIDER Government Revenue Database. Whereas Crivelli et al. report results for two country groups only, we present country-level results to make the most detailed estimates available. Our findings support a somewhat lower estimate of global revenue losses of around US$500 billion annually and indicate that the greatest intensity of losses occurs in low- and lower middle-income countries, and across sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South Asia. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2017-55&r=pub |
| By: | Nora Lustig |
| Abstract: | Current policy discussion focuses primarily on the power of fiscal policy to reduce inequality. Yet, comparable fiscal incidence analysis for 28 low and middle income countries reveals that, although fiscal systems are always equalizing, that is not always true for poverty. In Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana, Nicaragua, and Guatemala the extreme poverty headcount ratio is higher after taxes and transfers (excluding in-kind transfers) than before. In addition, to varying degrees, in all countries a portion of the poor are net payers into the fiscal system and are thus impoverished by the fiscal system. Consumption taxes are the main culprits of fiscally-induced impoverishment. Net direct taxes are always equalizing and indirect taxes net of subsidies are equalizing in nineteen countries of the 28. While spending on pre-school and primary school is pro-poor (i.e., the per capita transfer declines with income) in almost all countries, pro-poor secondary school spending is less prevalent, and tertiary education spending tends to be progressive only in relative terms (i.e., equalizing but not pro-poor). Health spending is always equalizing but not always pro-poor. More unequal countries devote more resources to redistributive spending and appear to redistribute more. The latter, however, is not a robust result across specifications. |
| Keywords: | fiscal incidence, social spending, inequality, poverty, developing countries |
| JEL: | H22 H5 D31 I3 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:448&r=pub |
| By: | Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | By the late 1960s, real effective taxation of income from individual firm ownership in Sweden approached 100 percent. A series of tax reforms initiated in the late 1970s reversed this situation. This paper has a threefold purpose: (1) to elucidate the thinking behind the vision of creating a largely market-based system without wealthy capitalists and how that vision guided the design of the tax system; (2) to outline and evaluate the numerous changes in the tax code made since the late 1970s, the empirical and intellectual basis of these changes, and the implications of these changes for the taxation of individual firm ownership; and (3) to compare the size of the largest individual wealth holdings in the mid-1960s to their equivalents in the 2010s and discuss in what sense and to what extent the general public’s views have changed regarding sizeable individual income streams and wealth derived from business activity. Today, the tax code favors already wealthy individuals. By contrast, high labor income taxation combined with a high valuation of existing assets renders wealth accumulation difficult for persons with no initial wealth. |
| Keywords: | Owner-level taxation; Entrepreneurship; Institutions; Sweden; Tax policy |
| JEL: | H20 H32 L26 N44 |
| Date: | 2017–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1164&r=pub |
| By: | Adriana Kugler; Maurice Kugler; Luis Omar Herrera Prada |
| Abstract: | Alternative work arrangements have grown rapidly around the world. In Latin America, these alternative work arrangements have long been part of the labor market and have continued to grow. The informal sector grew rapidly in Latin America over the past few decades comprising up to half of the working population in many countries. Some attribute the growth in alternative work arrangements and informality to regulations and taxes, while others argue that it is precisely the lack of enforcement of regulations that allows unprotected employment arrangements to flourish. We examine whether reducing taxes associated with employment stimulates formal sector employment. We exploit the fact that the Tax Reform introduced in Colombia in 2012 affected only certain types of workers and not others. In particular, workers earning less than 10 minimum wages (MW) and self-employed workers with more than 2 employees experienced a reduction of payroll taxes of 13.5% between 2013 and 2014. We use the Colombian Household Surveys, Social Security records and the Monthly Manufacturing Sample to conduct difference-in-difference analyses of the reform. We find evidence of increased formal employment for the affected groups after the reform using all three datasets. We find that the probability of formal employment and the likelihood of transitioning into registered employment increased for the affected groups after the reform. We also find that the level and share of permanent employment relative to temp employment grew after the reform for those earnings less than 10 MW. The results are greatest for those in smaller firms and those earnings close to the MW. |
| JEL: | H2 J2 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23308&r=pub |