Tax incidence of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in the USA

BackgroundA growing number of states or jurisdictions in the USA have imposed excise taxes on electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). However, there is no consensus on how best to tax ENDS.ObjectivesWe specifically compare the tax incidence or burden for ENDS and cigarettes and analyse how ENDS tax incidence is associated with the choices of tax bases and rates.MethodsWe calculate ENDS excise tax incidence as the percentage of retail prices for each state or jurisdiction. Next, we use ordinary least squares to evaluate how tax incidence is associated with the choices of tax bases (eg, a specific tax base vs a value or ad valorem tax base) and rates and how these associations are moderated by product types.ResultsENDS and cigarette tax incidence is similar at the state level. Nonetheless, when federal cigarette taxes are considered, the cigarette tax incidence is higher than the tax incidence on closed-system ENDS. The proportion of states that impose value taxes is higher for open systems (65.4%) than for closed systems (46.2%). A value tax base is associated with a 7 percentage point lower tax incidence compared with a specific tax base. Product type further moderates the association between tax base and incidence.ConclusionTax incidence can be used to measure the strength of ENDS tax policies and how they are compared with cigarette taxes. Policymakers who aim to prevent youth from using ENDS may consider a value tax base to raise the tax incidence of closed systems—the product type preferred by young people.

Black Tribute in the Spanish Americas

From the late 16th to the early 19th centuries, free individuals, families, and corporate groups whose reputations or self-descriptions defined them as Black in the Spanish Americas were subject to a specific tax. The royal tribute tax established the relationship between loyal vassals and a responsive Crown. Under Habsburg rule, tribute circumscribed the freedom of Black subjects but offered a path to privileges for those who provided services to the Crown. Attempts to levy the tax in the 16th and 17th centuries were wide-ranging but yielded comparatively small amounts of revenue. Tribute, nevertheless, affected many regions of the Spanish Americas, either by its collection or via the strategies Black people took to avoid it or contest its imposition. The responses of Black people and local officials to the tax determined how regularly it was enforced and how much revenue it would generate. Even where it failed, debates over tribute and attempts to collect it can reveal what it meant to be Black for colonial officials and ordinary people. Bourbon reforms led to an increasing emphasis on the fiscal potential of Black tribute, much of which became concentrated in the heart of New Spain. Hundreds of thousands of people not only paid tribute but were registered using new methods. The information produced within the tribute regime approximated the density, distribution, and interconnectedness of Black and Indian populations. In addition to the revenue and data its collection yielded, the imposition of Black tribute remains fundamental to understanding the colonial status, sense of identity, and experiences of Black people in the Spanish Empire.

Brand-switching and tobacco taxation in Vietnam

BackgroundThe government of Vietnam is embarking on a radical tobacco excise tax reform, switching from the current pure ad valorem scheme to a mixed system by adding a specific component. There have been concerns raised by state-owned tobacco companies against this initiative that switching to a mixed scheme may shift consumption away from cheaper, domestic brands to more expensive, foreign brands (produced locally by joint ventures between multinational tobacco companies and domestic firms) and to illicit cigarettes, thus impairing the domestic industry, rather than reducing cigarette consumption effectively. Unfortunately, although this concern has been one of the biggest obstacles to the tobacco tax reform in the country, no study thus far has attempted to address it due mostly to the unavailability of relevant micro-market data with detailed information on brand choice.ObjectivesThis research attempts to study cigarette brand substitution patterns and quantify the potential effect of the proposed tax structure change on cigarette brand choice to inform tax policy discussions in Vietnam.MethodsA discrete choice experiment is conducted to collect data on smokers’ stated brand choice when cigarette prices change exogenously. Combined with data on their current cigarette consumption, random parameter logit models were estimated and then used to calculate brand-level price semielasticities as well as numerically simulate the impact of tax reforms on smoking.ResultsSmokers are more likely to substitute a low-priced domestic brand with another domestic brand than either with a foreign brand or with an illicit brand, both of which are more expensive. Furthermore, the opt-out is one of the closest substitutes to low-priced brands and also the most sensitive to a change in their prices, implying that smokers of low-priced brands are more likely to buy none of the studied brands when cigarette prices increase. This provides strong suggestive evidence that they appear more likely to stop smoking when faced with higher cigarette prices. Imposing a specific tax tends to reduce the market share for both low-priced and high-priced licit brands, although the estimated market share reduction is larger for the former. In response to specific tax increases, a large share of current smokers do not intend to switch to illegal cigarette brands, but rather choose none of the experimented brands, suggesting their intention to quit. Finally, the magnitude of substitution to illicit brands tends to be negatively related to change in their prices as a result of the specific excise tax hike.ConclusionContrary to the raised concern, smokers are more likely to substitute a domestic brand with another domestic brand than with a foreign brand. Moreover, the threat of illicit trade should not be exaggerated, and there are actions that the government of Vietnam can take to mitigate the threat effectively.

Factors hindering the development of agricultural cooperatives in Georgia

Introduction. The lack of an appropriate methodological basis for creating agricultural cooperative system prevents the process of organizing formation of new agricultural cooperatives, which leads to an objective need to develop the organizational and economic basis for the formation and operation of agricultural cooperatives. In this regard, the research and study of theoretical aspects, analysis of objective conditions for the formation and operation of agricultural cooperatives, development of methodological provisions and practical recommendations to substantiate their organizational and economic mechanism, including matters of management, profit, price, credit, formation and distribution are topical to the issue and most of the components listed above are of great practical importance. Aim and tasks. The aim of the research is to develop scientific, organizational and economic basis for the establishment and operation of agricultural cooperatives in a multistructural economy. The objectives of the research are: identifying the essence of the cooperative, adding several principles to the formation and classification of agricultural cooperatives, determining the conditions and factors necessary for their creation. Results. Theoretical and regulatory aspects of formation and development of agricultural cooperatives were specified taking into account the introduction of new principles for their operation: mandatory creation of indivisible funds for innovative activities, agricultural producers’ interest and expediency for their participation in the associations; and classification of cooperatives in the production and service industries. Conclusions. Based on consideration of the integrated approach to the formation of cooperatives and farmers’ organizations, necessary documentation and calculation of economic efficiency, the methodological provisions developed in the process of the research on the establishment and operation of agricultural cooperatives will allow agricultural producers to approach the formation of necessary cooperatives skillfully, easily determine the absolute and specific tax burden of agricultural cooperatives.

Market and Firm Reaction to Targeted Tax Benefits: Evidence from the Tax Reform Act of 1986

A growing body of work examines market and firm responses to specific tax benefits. We extend this literature by examining market and firm reactions to an economically significant targeted tax refund granted to a few large, but poorly performing, steel firms by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA86). We find, relative to steel firms not receiving the refund, qualifying firms experience either a negative or insignificant market reaction around each of three key dates in the TRA86 legislative process. Using difference-in-differences analyses to test a variety of refund uses, we find that refund recipients use the proceeds to pay down debt rather than to increase capital assets, payouts to shareholders, acquisitions, or employment. Overall, we find targeted tax benefits granted to significant but struggling firms, while potentially politically appealing, appear to generate limited economic benefits to those targeted firms.

Pemungutan Pajak Penghasilan atas Transaksi Cryptocurrency di Indonesia

Legalization of cryptocurrency transactions in Indonesia is a breath of fresh air for the community. The increase in cryptocurrency investors every year shows that there are promising benefits from the transaction process. Even though Indonesia's economic condition is currently experiencing a recession, it has no impact on the sustainability of cryptocurrency transactions. So it can be said that this transaction can be an opportunity for tax revenue. However, it is unfortunate that there are no specific tax rules that regulate the collection of income tax on profits derived from cryptocurrency transactions in Indonesia. Based on these problems, the purpose of this study is to analyze the income tax collection system and law enforcement of income tax payments for cryptocurrency transactions in Indonesia. And the research method used is normative law by conducting extensive interpretation to find law (rechtsvinding). Keywords: Cryptocurrency; Income Tax; Tax Law Enforcement.AbstrakDilegalkannya transaksi cryptocurrency di Indonesia merupakan angin segar bagi masyarakat. Bertambahnya investor cryptocurrency pada setiap tahunnya menandakan bahwa terdapat suatu keuntungan yang menjanjikan dari proses transaksi tersebut. Meskipun kondisi perekonomian Indonesia yang sedang resesi saat ini, ternyata sama sekali tidak membawa pengaruh terhadap keberlangsungan transaksi cryptocurrency. Sehingga dapat dikatakan bahwa adanya transaksi tersebut bisa menjadi suatu peluang penerimaan perpajakan. Namun disayangkan belum tersedianya aturan pajak yang khusus untuk mengatur pemungutan Pajak Penghasilan atas keuntungan yang diperoleh dari transaksi cryptocurrency di Indonesia. Sehingga pemerintah belum bisa secara optimal mengontrol penerimaan pajak dari transaksi cryptocurrency di Indonesia. Berdasarkan permasalahan tersebut tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis sistem pemungutan Pajak Penghasilan serta penegakan hukum pembayaran Pajak Penghasilan atas transaksi cryptocurrency di Indonesia. Dan metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah hukum normatif dengan interpretasi ekstensif guna menemukan suatu hukum (rechtsvinding).Kata Kunci: Cryptocurrency; Pajak Penghasilan; Penegakan Hukum Pajak.

Taxation of Instagram Influencers

<p>This scientific article discusses issues related to the taxation of Instagram influencers. Its main objective is to define how the influencers’ incomes should be taxed. To achieve this primary purpose, the partial objective is defined to give the list of (legal) cooperation contracts between the marketers and influencers. The hypothesis that there is no need to adopt new specific tax law norms to tax influencers’ incomes properly, at least in developed countries, was confirmed. All jurisdictions are taxing influencers’ incomes. It is always necessary to focus on the content of the relationship generating influencer’s income, as the principle of priority of content over form must be used. The tax liability is influenced only by the tax base. The tax rate and other structural components of the tax remain the same for different types of incomes. Generally, it is always better for the influencer to have a trading license (to be a businessman) than tax his/her incomes as incomes from copyright. Incomes from dependent activities based on labour law contract or occasional incomes are not probable for a typical influencer, and still, the taxation in this way is not really favourable. The novelty of the presented research lies in the fact that no scientific articles deal with the covered issues published so far. The author believes that the article has a cognitive value for both science and practice.</p>

Assessing the Impact of Cigarette Taxation on the Supply Chain Stakeholders' Revenue Shares in Greece

The chapter aims to analyze the impact of cigarette taxes evolution over the period 1992-2017 on the revenue share of the main tobacco supply chain stakeholders in Greece. This empirical analysis uses a pooled time series from 1992 through 2017 including a data set of retail prices, three tax groups levied on cigarettes (specific tax, ad valorem tax, and V.A.T.), and revenue shares for three categories of stakeholders. The results indicate that the revenue share of the stakeholders is decreasing over the whole period, and specifically, their shares drop by half in the last 15 years. The regression results show that the revenue shares of tobacco companies are most affected by both excise taxes in a negative way, and similarly, both price and the excises affect significantly the revenue share of retailers, whereas the findings regarding distributors' revenues are insignificant. This knowledge is likely to be useful for policymakers in the development of effective tobacco control policies.

Coercive measure-sequestration for environmental crime

In general there are no many scientific papers on coercive measures determined under Criminal Procedural Code of Georgia. Though, based on aforesaid issue we may not state that aforesaid issues were not subject of controversy and does not include disputable opinions. In this scientific article the author represents legal aspects of sequestration - one of the measures of criminal procedural enforcement. Namely, based on active legislation the author in the article mainly considers essence, importance and application criteria of sequestration as a measure of criminal procedural enforcement. The article also considers achieved and possible results of sequestration as a coercive and enforcement measures and importance of aforesaid results. Article is composed of introduction, three parts and conclusion. Introduction of article refers special recommendation approved by Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in September 17, 1987 under that Parliament of Georgia approved Criminal Procedural Code of Georgia through the third hearing that entered into force from October 10, 2010. Contents of article generally refer legal regulation of sequestration, also emphasizing criteria of tax liability at the time of tax dispute and power criteria of tax authority during the specific tax dispute, also here are reviewed issues of enforcement measures related to disputable tax liability by applying coercive measures under the basis of decision of first instance court.

Taxation and growth: Why does it matter and how can it be analysed?

The growth impact of tax reforms is probably one of the most controversial issues in economic policy discussions, reflecting deep beliefs in the way economic agents are expected to react to policy changes. The optimal tax theory literature provides a wide array of arguments to identify the mechanisms through which tax reforms might influence growth, depending on the tax category considered and the circumstances under which tax reforms are implemented. The empirical literature has relied on the use of cross-country growth regressions and provided general results leading to normative conclusions on the desirability of specific tax reform options. However, recent research has shown that this approach yields inconclusive results, notably due to identification and endogeneity issues, and the difficulty to account for the true determinants of governments' actions. The dynamic scoring approach combining microsimulation and macro models proves more useful in this respect, especially in order to draw policy recommendations while accounting for the second-round effects of tax reforms. I illustrate these arguments by analysing the growth impact of a hypothetical change from the current flat personal income tax (PIT) rates to progressive taxes in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. I find that the estimated impact of such a reform would be rather small but positive when using the dynamic scoring method, while the less-reliable traditional growth regressions would suggest adverse growth effects.