Preferences, Tax Structure and Tax Reform: Theory and Evidence

1975 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shlomo Maital

When the structure of tax revenues–the proportion of revenues earned by income, consumption and wealth taxes–is treated as a pure public good, a useful framework emerges for analyzing interrelationships among taxpayers' preferences, tax structure and tax reform. The “optimal” tax structure is defined and used to outline several conjectures about the current shift from direct to indirect taxation, evident particularly in Europe. Attention is then focused on the U.S. tax system. The structure of the tax system is shown to have changed very little in the past two decades. In contrast, interview surveys carried out over the past thirty years indicated a long-standing shift in taxpayers' preferences toward indirect taxes. Implications are drawn regarding tax reform.

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 73-93
Author(s):  
Salvatore Antonello Parente

Abstract In Italy, among the priorities of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), a strategic position is taken by the tax reform, which is part of the actions to remedy the structural weaknesses of the country’s system and to stimulate economic recovery aft er the Covid-19 crisis. In this context, in order to design a new tax structure, in terms of economic growth and competitiveness, a legislative rethink of indirect taxation of trusts and other destination constraints is desirable. In fact, the current tax rules of these negotiation models, in addition to giving rise to numerous disputes, oft en discourage their use in regulating new interests and needs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 118 (10) ◽  
pp. 365-372
Author(s):  
Jayanti.G ◽  
Dr. V.Selvam

India being a democratic and republic country, has witnessed the biggest indirect tax reform after much exploration, GST bill roll out on 1 April 2017.  The concept of this reform is for a unified country-wide tax reform system.  Enterprises particularly SMEs are caught in a state of instability.  Several taxes such s excise, service tax etc., have been subsumed with a single tax structure. it is the responsibilities of both centre and state government to shoulder the important responsibility to cater the needs of the people and the nation as a whole.  The main basis of income to the government is through levy of taxes.  To meet the so called socio-economic needs and economic growth, taxes are considered as a main source of revenue for the government.  As per Wikipedia “A tax is a mandatory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed upon tax payer by the government in order to fund various public expenditure”   it is said that tax payment is mandatory, failure to pay such taxes will be punishable under the law.   The Indian tax system is classified as direct and indirect tax.   The indirect taxes are levied on purchase, sale, and manufacture of goods and provision of service.  The indirect tax on goods and services increases its price, this can lead to inflationary trend.  Contribution of indirect taxes to total tax revenue is more than 50% in India, therefore, indirect tax is considered as a major source of tax revenue for the government, which in turn is one of source for GDP growth.  Though indirect tax is a major source of revenue, it had lot of hassles.  To overcome the major issues of indirect tax system the government of India subsumed most of the indirect tax which in turn gave birth to the concept called Goods and Service Tax.


1992 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gregory Ballentine

In this paper, I assess the 1986 Tax Reform Act relative to the tax system that might have evolved over the several years following 1986 had that particular tax reform not been enacted. Had tax reform not been enacted, I believe that the pattern of steady tax increases, particularly corporate tax increases and tax increases on high-income individuals such as occurred in the 1982 and 1984 tax acts would have continued. I also believe that the 1986 Tax Reform Act introduced an income tax system that will be quite stable; broad changes, in particular changes that raise a large amount of income tax revenues, are unlikely for many years. So I am comparing the tax structure of the 1986 Tax Reform Act to a system that, in part, has an inferior structure, but that provides more revenues. Since I believe that the most important tax policy goal in 1986 and later should have been to raise revenues, not to revise the structure of the tax system, I believe that the 1986 Tax Reform Act was harmful. Tax reform not only did not raise revenues, it has made it more difficult to raise revenues in the future, without providing significant offsetting benefits.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-228
Author(s):  
SUDHA B ◽  
DHATCHINAMOORTHI P

GST is one of the most crucial tax reforms in India which has been longpending. It was supposed to be implemented from April 2010, but due to political issues andconflicting interests of various stakeholders it is still pending. It is a comprehensive taxsystem that will subsume all indirect taxes of states and central governments and unifiedeconomy into a seamless national market. It is expected to iron out wrinkles of existingindirect tax system and play a vital role in growth of India. This paper presents an overviewof GST concept, explains its features along with its timeline of implementation in India. Thepaper is more focused on advantages of GST and challenges faced by India in execution


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-293
Author(s):  
Gomathi N

GST also known as the Goods and Services Tax is defined as the giant indirect taxstructures designed to support and enhance the economic growth of a country. In today‘sscenario to pay various taxes i.e. direct and indirect taxes, which are felt as burden on us anddue to these taxes the corruption is increasing. So, to overcome from all these taxation systemthe Central Government has decided to make one tax system i.e. Goods and Services Tax(GST). GST is one of the most critical tax reforms in India which has been long awaitingdecision. It is a comprehensive tax system that will subsume all indirect taxes of State andcentral Governments and whole economy into seamless nation in national market. It isexpected to remove the burden of existing indirect tax system and play an important role ingrowth of India. GST includes all Indirect Taxes which will help in growth of economy andproves to be more beneficial than the existing tax system. GST will also help to accelerate theoverall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) isa vast concept that simplifies the giant tax structure by supporting and enhancing theeconomic growth of a country. GST is a comprehensive tax levy on manufacturing, sale andconsumption of goods and services at a national level


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Madhav Khanal

Tax is the major source of revenue for the government, and development of any country’s economy largely depends on the tax structure it has adopted. A Tax structure which facilitates easy business and leaves no chance for tax evasion brings prosperity to a country’s economy. On the other hand, tax structure that has provisions for tax evasion and the one which does not facilitate ease of doing business shows down the economic growth. Nepal has a well-developed tax structure. The power to levy taxes and duties is distributed among the three tiers of the Government, in accordance to the constitutional provisions. Nepali tax system has gone through many reforms but still it is very far from being an ideal one. Many problems like tax evasion, reliance on indirect taxes, black money and existence of parallel economy show that Nepali tax system requires some major reforms in the future ahead to address all this problem. This study is purely based on secondary data. Various figures are obtained from different sources of the government of Nepal. It is seen that there is major dependence on indirect taxes than the direct taxes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ms. Neha Nainwal

<bold>Main findings of the book</bold> The Indian tax system has undergone major structural changes since Independence in 1947. It has become comprehensive and complicated over the years. It has successfully mobilised resources to finance developmental, welfare and administrative activities of public authorities. Besides being the main source of revenue, both for the Central and State Governments, it is an effective instrument to realise various socio-economic objectives of national policies. However, the tax system has been relying heavily on indirect taxes and suffering extensively from fiscal malady called tax evasion. Restructuring of the tax system has constituted a major component of fiscal reforms initiated since 1991. The main focus of the tax reforms has been on simplification and rationalization of both direct and indirect taxes with the objective of augmenting revenues and removing anomalies in the tax structure. Tax reforms in recent years have brought the tax system much closer to international tax practices. Tax reforms are a part of the package to liberalise and globalise the Indian economy. The post-1991 period has witnessed a sharp decline in the rates of income tax, excise duty and customs tariff. The theory that high rates of duty lead to higher revenue collection has been discarded in favour of lower rates with fewer exemptions and concessions. The strategy in respect of direct taxation is to minimise distortions in tax structure by expanding the tax base and moderating tax rates on the one hand and improving the efficiency of tax administration and increasing the deterrence level on the other, so as to encourage voluntary compliance. The strategy in respect of indirect taxes is to move towards a fully integrated goods and services tax (GST).


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22
Author(s):  
Lavisha Verma

Goods and Services Tax (GST) comes under Indirect Tax regime covers whole of  India replaced  various indirect taxes levied by the Central and state governments. The GST is governed by GST Council and its Chairman is Union Finance Minister of India “GST is not a tax reform in true sense, but it is a major business reform which will change the way business activities are carried in the country. The dual structure of GST is the fundamental character of our country and therefore a single GST across the country is not possible in true sense under GST ,the taxpayer will be ease the burden  of taxpayers to deal with multiple indirect taxes as under present Indirect system but GST will cost high compliance burden on the taxpayers requiring a registration in every state from where taxable activities are carried out  but it would definitely reduced cumbersome documentation and save time. This research Paper discuss about the biggest step taken in indirect tax system that is GST and challenges in implementation. The paper aims to show that GST is a merely a Business reform, not a uniform tax system.


1976 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-215
Author(s):  
Amnon E. Rafael

The Israeli income tax system has been criticized as one of the main causes of the shortcomings of Israeli society. Moral decadence, corruption, disregard for truth, the drive towards materialism, the decline of long-established values, acquiescence in injustice and the widening of the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots”—to name but a few—have been ascribed to it. Rarely has a tax system as such, been credited with the ability to contribute so little good. Admittedly, the tax system became an easy scapegoat to blame for the weaknesses of Israeli society. More than the tax system has gone wrong; the very fibre of Israeli society has come under a strain for which Israelis were ill-prepared. It would therefore be more accurate to describe the Israeli tax scene during the past few years as one of the symptoms of the malady, but not as the sickness itself.


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