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on Public Finance |
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Issue of 2023‒01‒30
fourteen papers chosen by |
| By: | Juin-Jen Chang (Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan); Chun-Hung Kuo (Department of Economics, National Tsing Hua University); Hsieh-Yu Lin (Department of Economics, Tunghai University); Shu-Chun S. Yang (Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan) |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-1980s, U.S. corporate tax cuts have become less expansionary and increasingly associated with rising share buybacks. Using dynamic general equilibrium models with corporate financial allocations, we show that buybacks render a corporate tax cut less expansionary. Simulations based on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have the optimal buyback response much smaller than that observed. This implies that restricting buybacks is likely to enhance the expansionary effects of a corporate tax cut. Both shareholders and non-shareholders enjoy higher income from a corporate tax cut, but most of the income increases accrue to shareholders. Whether non-shareholders enjoy higher consumption de- pends on the fiscal adjustment mechanism. |
| Keywords: | corporate tax cuts, share buybacks, tax policy effects, fiscal policy effects, SVAR estimation |
| JEL: | E62 H25 H30 C32 D53 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sin:wpaper:22-a005&r=pub |
| By: | Katarzyna A. Bilicka; Irem Guceri; Evangelos Koumanakos |
| Abstract: | We analyze the short and long-run performance of firms that were differentially affected by a new tax on dividends in the lead-up to the Global Financial Crisis. We use exogenous policy variation for firms with different legal statuses and financial year-end dates to causally identify the policy impact. Consistent with intertemporal tax arbitrage, immediately-affected firms significantly reduce payouts. At a time of severe liquidity shortage, the average firm uses the undistributed cash to pay back debt. In the long run, the allocation of undistributed cash to investment, retained earnings, and debt repayment predicts growth and the likelihood of bankruptcy. |
| JEL: | G11 G32 H25 H32 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30808&r=pub |
| By: | Lerche, Adrian (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany ; LMU Munich ; IZA) |
| Abstract: | "This paper estimates the direct effects of investment tax credits on firms’ production behavior and the additional indirect effects arising from agglomeration economies. Exploiting a change in tax credit rates by firm size in Germany, I find that manufacturing firms increase capital and employment, with labor demand in information and communication technology-intensive industries shifting towards college-educated workers. Using geolocation data, I show that agglomeration benefits lead to a sizable further firm production expansion with these benefits materializing within distances of 5 kilometers. Worker flows from the service sector and from non-employment, rather than between manufacturing firms, explain the employment effects." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | IAB-Open-Access-Publikation |
| JEL: | H25 H32 J23 R11 D22 |
| Date: | 2022–12–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:202228&r=pub |
| By: | Martin Eckhoff Andresen; Lars Thorvaldsen |
| Abstract: | Escape clauses, where small firms are exempt from particular tax rules, is a crucial feature of a number of corporate tax schemes, but creates incentives to avoid taxation by manipulating the measures that determine inclusion. We evaluate the impact of thin capitalization rules, which commonly feature such escape clauses across the world, by exploiting the introduction of these rules in Norway in 2014. Combining difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity and bunching estimates, we show that what appears to be a strong response in the capital structure among exposed firms primarily reflect within-group reallocation of debt to avoid exposure to the rules. We observe sharp bunching among both new and existing subsidiaries at both thresholds for rule inclusion, and find that internal corporate group debt is offloaded to these bunching subsidiaries in order to avoid additional tax costs. As a result, significant and large effects on firm-level capital structure in response to the thin capitalization rules is driven by reshuffling of capital within corporate groups with little real effects. Re-estimating the difference-in-difference specification at the corporate group level confirms this finding, questioning the extent to which thin capitalization rules affect the real economy due to the presence of escape clauses. |
| Keywords: | thin capitalization rules, capital structure, escape clauses, difference-in-differences, bunching |
| JEL: | H25 H26 G30 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10183&r=pub |
| By: | Alvarez, Bruna; Pessoa, João Paulo; Souza, André Portela |
| Abstract: | We study how revenue-dependent tax policies affect wages, productivity, and welfare in an economy where formal and informal firms co-exist. We use a dynamic entrepreneurial choice model and bring it to the data to assess the effects of the Brazilian Simples, a simplified tax scheme that reduces the tax burden of small- and medium-sized firms. We find that the Simples increases firm formalization, raising the demand for labor and benefiting workers. Meanwhile, tax collection falls as some formal firms withhold production to pay lower taxes. Overall, productivity (weighted by firm size), per capita production, and welfare fall. Alternative policies that reduce the tax gap between small and large firms perform better in welfare and tax collection terms. |
| Date: | 2022–12–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:eesptd:561&r=pub |
| By: | Andrea F.M. Martinangeli; Lisa Windsteiger |
| Abstract: | We explore cheating in a die roll task in response to information about tax evasion in a large-scale experiment on a representative sample of the Italian population. We thus generalise laboratory findings on conditional behaviours (cooperation, cheating) to uncover their real-world bearing in the context of tax compliance. Cheating is conditioned on information about tax evasion, as is the perceived tax compliance norm. We uncover asymmetries along the income gradient: Conditional cheating responses are driven by information about tax evasion on behalf of top income earners, while perceived tax compliance norms are driven by information about tax evasion among low income earners. Instrumental variable investigations of posterior beliefs about tax evasion strengthen these results, and reveal moreover that information about top income tax evasion erodes social trust, reinforces beliefs that wealth accumulation only occurs at others’ expense, and increases beliefs that a fundamental role of the State is that of ensuring an equitable distribution of income. |
| Keywords: | tax evasion, tax avoidance, conditional cooperation, cheating, survey experiment |
| JEL: | D01 D31 D63 H23 H26 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10144&r=pub |
| By: | Hiroaki Ino (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University); Toshihiro Matsumura (Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the optimal combination of emission and fuel taxes for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases are emitted during both production and consumption stages. We present two cases in which a government should impose an additional fuel tax even when an optimal emission tax is introduced: the case in which consumers select the fuel consumption and case in which a producer selects fuel efficiency endogenously. In other words, we show that a government should maintain fuel taxes even after introducing an effective emission tax. |
| Keywords: | fuel tax, emission tax, carbon pricing, heterogeneous consumers, vehicle industry |
| JEL: | Q58 Q48 H23 L51 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:243&r=pub |
| By: | António Afons; José Alves; José Carlos Coelho |
| Abstract: | We assess the link between fiscal sustainability coefficients, namely the responses of the primary government balance and the global government balance to the debt-to-GDP ratio, and the response of government revenues to government expenditures. For 22 OECD developed countries we use annual data between 1950 and 2019. Other determinants of fiscal responses are also studied in the context of quantile regressions. We find that the output gap contributes to increasing fiscal sustainability by positively influencing the responsiveness of the primary and global government balances; the responses of the primary and global government balances to the debt ratio and the response of government revenues to government expenditures depend on the level of the debt ratio. In addition, from the quantile analysis, the influence of the response of government revenues to government expenditures is negative and increasing over the deciles, confirming the existence of a negative cross-relationship between the fiscal sustainability coefficients. |
| Keywords: | fiscal reaction function; fiscal determinants; panel data; quantile regressions |
| JEL: | C23 H61 H63 E62 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp02552023&r=pub |
| By: | Marco Battaglini; Luigi Guiso; Chiara Lacava; Douglas L. Miller; Eleonora Patacchini |
| Abstract: | We study the extent to which ML techniques can be used to improve tax auditing efficiency using administrative data, without the need of randomized audits. Using Italy's population data on sole proprietorship tax returns, audits and their outcome, we develop a new approach to address the so called selective labels problem - the fact that a ML algorithm must necessarily be trained on endogenously selected data. We document the existence of substantial margins for raising revenue from audits by improving the selection of taxpayers to audit with ML. Replacing the 10% least productive audits with an equal number of taxpayers selected by our trained algorithm raises detected tax evasion by as much as 38%, and evasion that is actually payed back by 29%. |
| JEL: | H2 H20 H26 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30777&r=pub |
| By: | Jacob Goss; Daniel Mangrum; Joelle Scally |
| Abstract: | We quantify the total stock of balances eligible for the 2022 federal student loan forgiveness policy and explore which groups benefit most. Roughly $441 billion in balances are eligible for forgiveness, which would leave almost 40 percent of federal borrowers with no remaining balance. The borrowers who benefit most, as measured by the ratio of forgiven balances to balances held, are younger, have lower credit scores, and live in lower-income neighborhoods. Compared to other salient fiscal policies, the forgiveness policy distributes less benefit to lower income ZIP codes than the Earned Income Tax Credit, but more benefit to lower income ZIP codes than the 2019 Child Tax Credit and the 2019 education tax credits for higher education. Lastly, we note a recent uptick in credit card and auto loan delinquency for student loan borrowers that may portend more widespread payment difficulties for borrowers if payments resume without relief. |
| Keywords: | student loans; debt forgiveness; COVID-19; consumer finance |
| JEL: | H22 H31 H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2023–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:95425&r=pub |
| By: | Howard Chernick; Andrew Reschovsky (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the fiscal health of 148 U.S. central cities using a specially constructed Fiscally Standardized Cities (FiSC) database that accounts for the revenues and spending of all the governments that provide public services in cities – municipal governments, school districts, counties, and special districts. These data permit comparisons of city finance between cities with widely different governance structures. The fiscal health of a city is defined as the relationship between its expenditure needs and its revenue-raising capacity. The expenditure needs calculations are obtained from regressions of six separate categories of spending. The analysis makes it possible to identify variables that are likely to affect the cost of providing different types of local public services. Tax capacity is measured by applying average tax rates to the major tax bases used by each FiSC in the database. User-charge capacity is based on residents’ ability to pay. Own-source fiscal capacity is supplemented by grants from the federal and state governments. The empirical analysis is based on a panel dataset for 2000 through 2014. The results indicate that that a substantial number of U.S. cities are in weak fiscal health because their revenue-raising capacity, including intergovernmental transfers, falls short of their expenditure needs. Fiscal disparities, measured as the variation in these fiscal gaps, were large in both 2000 and 2014 and increased over that period. On average, own-source revenue-raising capacity grew much faster than intergovernmental transfers. The largest single contributor to the increase in fiscal disparities was the uneven growth in own-source revenue-raising capacity across cities. Targeted increases in federal and state grants could help improve the fiscal health of U.S. central cities and reduce fiscal disparities. |
| Keywords: | municipal finance, urban fiscal health, municipal revenue, municipal spending, fiscal capacity, expenditure need, transfers, intergovernmental relations |
| JEL: | H71 H72 H75 H76 H77 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mfg:wpaper:63&r=pub |
| By: | M. P. Ram Mohan; Aditya Gupta |
| Abstract: | Intellectual Property (IP) assets enjoy a unique advantage in tax planning. Owing to their intangible nature and the lack of a physical attribution, IP assets can be methodologically parked to transfer income between tax jurisdictions. In 2016, the Delhi High Court was presented with a dispute where IP assets registered in India were transferred between an Australian and English company through their subsidiary holdings in Mauritius. The question before the Court was which tax jurisdiction, India, Australia or Mauritius, would be entitled to tax the capital gains arising from the transaction. The Court held that if a foreign corporation owns an IP asset, regardless of its registration and use in India, it would be taxed by the jurisdiction of the owner’s residence. Coming to its conclusion, the Indian Court found a legislative vacuum in the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961, and relied on the doctrine of Mobilia Sequuntur Personam to fill the lacunae. The present study examines the relevance of the doctrine in line with precedential guidelines and the international treaty framework. The paper reveals that, either inadvertently or by design, the Indo-Mauritian DTAA creates an instance of double tax exemption of Mauritian-owned, Indian-registered IP assets. |
| Date: | 2023–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:14689&r=pub |
| By: | Hérault, Nicolas; Hyslop, Dean; Jenkins, Stephen P.; Wilkins, Roger |
| Abstract: | Using income tax administrative data for Australia, we examine levels and trends in the persistence in top-income group membership, focusing on the top 1%. Top-income persistence increased markedly between 1991 and 2018, with most of the increase occurring in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. In the mid- to late-2010s, Australian top-income persistence rates were near the top of the range of tax-data estimates for other countries. We decompose the increase into factors associated with (i) changes in the composition of the top-income group and (ii) increases in persistence rates for specific population subgroups. We find that the rise in top-income persistence is accounted for by changes in subgroup persistence rates, notably for individuals aged 35–64, and especially those aged 55–64. We suggest that these effects are partially related to increases in the effective retirement age over the relevant period. |
| Keywords: | top incomes; income mobility; top-income persistence; Wiley - The University of Melbourne agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians |
| JEL: | D31 I31 C81 |
| Date: | 2022–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117265&r=pub |
| By: | Nyamapheni, Joseph; Robinson , Zurika |
| Abstract: | The article investigates tax morale during different economic milieus, going hand in hand with the introduction of different currency regimes. It was guided by econometric research and data were collected using questionnaires from the 2010-2014 and 2017-2020 World Values Survey (WVS). For Zimbabwe, Wave 6 and Wave 7 had a sample size of 1500 and 1200 respectively. The article?s dependent variable, tax morale and independent variables included marital status, age, income level, employment and religion among others, and analysed them using the Ordered Logit Model. The article concludes with an understanding of how tax morale and its determinants is crucial for governments in their bid to boost voluntary compliance. Also, different economic milieus for a particular country affect the level of tax morale significantly. Tax morale was established to be high when Zimbabwe was experiencing economic growth due to the introduction of multi-currency, herein called the dollarization period, and the opposite was true for the post-dollarization era. Corruption, which is a menace under study, has proven to be an important factor that influences tax morale. Results of all the models show that demographic factors have little effect on tax morale. The article introduced an important variable of hunger in its analysis of determinants of tax morale. The article showed that there is a negative relationship between hunger and tax morale for Zimbabwe in both economic situations. Based on the findings, policy makers should consider the eradication of corruption and hunger in order to boost tax morale, which in turn improves tax compliance. Also, policy makers should include improvement in the perception of democracy in the mix of enhancement strategies of tax compliance. |
| Keywords: | Determinants; Tax morale; Order Logit Model; Zimbabwe |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uza:wpaper:29690&r=pub |