The proceedings of a conference that dealt with the pros and cons of a consumption-based tax system and of taxing lifetime consumption. Contributors discuss theoretical, political, legal and administrative aspects of the taxation reform.
A tax reform policy aiming at a growth of prosperity requires basic guidelines. These would have to serve as a standard evaluation model for the precise assessment of the current tax system and the development of tax reform proposals. For market economies the concept of a consumption-based tax system is gaining increasing importance, especially with respect to economic efficiency. An ideal concept for reforming direct taxes would be the requirement of aligning tax bases directly to consumed income, that is, to exempt saved and invested income from taxation. The present volume contains papers dealing with the pros and cons of such a consumption-based tax system and of taxing lifetime consumption. Papers presented in this volume come from leading international scientists who discuss the tax reform under theoretical, political, legal and administrative aspects.
One: Opening Lectures.- The Superiority of a Consumption-Based Tax
System.- I. Introduction.- II. Alternative Ways of Attaining a
Consumption-based Tax System.- III. Principal Reasons fovouring the
Consumption Approach in Taxation.- A. Tax Incidence and the Real Burden of
Taxation.- B. Functional Efficiency Virtues of Taxing Consumption.- C.
Minimizing Excess Burdens by Taxing Consumption.- D. Equity Virtues of Taxing
Consumption.- IV. Strategies in Favour of a Consumption-based Tax System.- On
Choosing the "Correct" Tax Base - A Historical Perspective.- I. National
Income or Output as Potential Base.- II. Personal Income as Index of Taxable
Capacity.- III. The Case for Consumption as Tax Base.- IV. Minimizing
Dead-Weight Loss.- Two: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Taxing
Consumption.- The Short Run and Long Run Welfare Effects of Implementing a
Practical System of Consumption Taxation.- I. Introduction.- II. Main Issues
in the Design of a Feasible Consumption Tax Base.- III. The Effects of
Personal Tax Base Reform on Saving and Welfare.- IV. Dynamic Welfare
Economics: A Cursory Review of the Literature.- V. The Relevance of Dynamic
Welfare Theory for Tax Reform.- Comments by Michael Ahlheim.- Consumption and
Income Taxation: Horizontal Equity and Life Cycle Issues.- I. Introduction.-
II. Income and Consumption Taxes in a Simple Life Cycle Model.- III.
Extensions to the Basic Model.- IV. Principles of Horizontal Equity.- V.
Conclusions.- Comments by Syed M. Ahsan.- Taxation of Income, Consumption,
and Wages in an Open Economy.- I. Introduction.- II. The Household Sector.-
III. The Business Sector.- IV. The Government.- V. The Model with Exogenous
Terms of Trade.- VI. The Effects of Tax Policy when the Terms of Trade are
Exogenous.- VII. Tax Policy and the Terms of Trade.- VIII. Summary and
Conclusion.- Comments by Pierre Pestieau.- On the Specification of Simulation
Models for Evaluating Income and Consumption Taxes.- I. Introduction.- II.
The Simulation Models.- A. A Model with a Simple Present/Future Choice.- B.
Infinite-Horizon Model.- C. Overlapping-Generations Life-Cycle Model.- III.
Results.- IV. Conclusion.- Comments by Gunter Stephan.- Comments by Karl W.
Roskamp.- Three: Taxing Consumption from a Public Choice and Constitutional
Point of View.- Consumption Taxation and Democratic Process.- I. The Public
Choice Approach to Tax Issues.- II. The Political Model: Modified Leviathan.-
III. Tax Substitution: Consumption versus Income Taxation.- A. Consumption
Tax and Tax Efficiency.- B. Cost Share Effects.- C. Fiscal Illusion.- D.
Summary.- IV. Tax Supplementation: Consumption Tax and the Tax Mix.- V. In
Summation.- Comments by Peter Bernholz.- Comments by Frans van Winden.-
Public Choice and the Consumption Tax.- I. Public Choice Considerations.- II.
Flies in the Public Choice Ointment.- III. The Adoption of the Personal
Income Tax in the United States.- IV. Conclusions.- Comments by Bengt-Arne
Wickstrom.- Fiscal Principle, Fiscal Politics, and Consumption Taxation.- I.
Fiscal Principle and the Grammar of Tax Advocacy.- II. Optimal Discrimination
through Political Processes?.- III. Self Interest, Political Incentive, and
Consumption Taxation.- IV. Fiscal Politics in Constitutional Perspective.-
Comments by Charles B. Blankart.- Four: Legal Aspects of Taxing Consumption.-
Taxing Consumption from a Legislative Point of View.- I. Introduction.- II.
Constitutional Fundamentals of Taxation.- A. Taxation in a Democratic State
Based on the Rule of Law.-
1. The Rule of Law.-
2. Reform of the Tax Law in a
Democracy.- 2.1. Stable und Unstable Elements of the Law in a Democracy.-
2.2. Juridico-Economie Perspectives of Tax Reforms.- 2.3. Fundamental Reform
of the Tax Law in a Democracy?.- B. Equality, Liberty and Social Solidarity
as Constitutional Fundamentals for a Consumption-orientated Reform of Tax
Systems.-
1. On the Constitutionally Guaranteed Basic Consensus as regards
Equality, Liberty and Social Solidarity.-
2. Equality.- 2.1.
System-Consistent Taxation in Accordance with the Ability to Pay.- 2.2.
Consumption as a Fair Indicator of a Person's Ability to Pay Taxes.-
3.
Liberty and Social Solidarity.- 3.1. The Concept of the "Social Market
Economy".- 3.2. Adequacy of Consumption Taxation within a Free Enterprise
System.- 3.3. Neutrality of Consumption Taxation.- 3.4. Prerequisites for
Social Solidarity.- III. Approaches to a Consumption-orientated Reform of the
German Tax System.- A. Necessity for a Multiple Tax System Based on Diverse
Ability-to-pay Indicators.- B. Juridico-Institutional Framework.- C.
Substitution of the Income Tax, the Corporation Tax, the Trade Tax
(Gewerbesteuer) and the Wealth Tax (Vermogensteuer) by a General Tax on the
Consumed Income and a General Tax on the Saved Income.- D. Extension of the
Corporation Tax to a General Tax on the Saved Income.-
1. Approach: Separate
Taxation of Saved Income and Consumable Income.-
2. The General Tax on the
Saved Income as a "Business Tax" ("Betriebsteuer"); Technicalities.-
3.
Relationship between the Proportional "Business Tax" and the Progressive Tax
on the Consumable Income.- E. On the Legislative Realization of the Concept.-
IV. Summary.- Five: Administrative Aspects of a Consumption-based Tax
System.- Administrative Advantages of the Individual Tax Prepayment Approach
to the Direct Taxation of Consumption.- I. Introduction.- II. Main Features
of Income and Consumption Taxes.- A. The Income Tax.- B. The ICF/RF
Consumption Tax.- C. The ITP/R Consumption Tax.- III. A Comparison of
Consumption and Income Taxes.- A. Relative Advantages of Consumption-based
Taxation.- B. Relative Disadvantages of the Consumption-based Tax.- IV.
Advantages of the ITP/R Tax Over the ICF/RF Tax.- A. Individual Issues.- B.
Business Tax Issues.- V. Problems of the ITP/R Approach.- A. Problems Related
to the ITP/R Treatment of Interest.- B. Other Structural Issues.- C.
Transitional Issues.- VI. Conclusion.- Appendix Income and Consumption Taxes:
Structural Issues.- A. Consumption vs. Income Treatment of Businesses.- B.
The Treatment of Business Investment and Debt.- C. Consumption vs. Income Tax
Treatment of Individuals.- D. The Treatment of Gifts and Bequests.- Comments
by Wolfram F. Richter.- Alternate Roads to Consumption Taxation -
Administration Versus Tax Structure.- I. Background Issues.- A. Transfer
Payments.- B. Open Economies.- C. Withholding.- II. Administrative
Considerations in Selecting Among Personal Consumption Taxes.- III.
Conclusion.- Comments by Sven-Olof Lodin.- Administration Problems of an
Expenditure Tax.- I. Administration: The Achilles' Heel of an Expenditure
Tax.- II. Methods of Expenditure Tax Administration.- A. The Direct Method of
Expenditure Tax Administration.- B. The Cash-Flow Method of Expenditure Tax
Administration.- C. The Wealth-Accrual Method of Expenditure Tax
Administration.- D. The Tax-Prepayment Method of Expenditure Tax
Administration.- E. The Taxing-Business-Cash-Flows-Cum-Wages Method of
Expenditure Tax Administration.- III. Consumer Durables: The Main
Administrative Blunder of an Expenditure Tax.- IV. Gifts, Bequests, and
Exchanges.- V. Interest Payments.- VI. Insurance, Social Security
Contributions, Lotteries, and Necessitous Expenditures.- VII. What must be
Registered?.- VIII. Problems of International Taxation.- IX. Problems of
Regime Transition.- X. Evaluating of an Expenditure Tax.- Comments by Albert
J. Radler.- Six: Taxing Consumption from an International Point of View.-
International Coordination Problems of Substituting Consumption for Income
Taxation.- I. Role of Taxes and Tax Coordination in International Setting.-
A. Types of Tax and Base Assignment.- B. Coordination and its Objectives.-
1.
Internation Equity: Entitlement to Tax Bases.-
2. Internation Equity: Burden
Shifting.-
3. Allocative Efficiency.-
4. Interresident Equity.- C.
Coordination or Competition?.- D. Harmonization, Equalization or
Centralization?.- II. Coordination of Symmetrical Income Tax Systems.- A.
Individual Income Tax.- B. Absolute Corporation Income Tax.- C. Integrated
Corporation Tax.- III. Coordination of Symmetrical Consumption Tax Systems.-
A. In Rem Consumption Taxes.-
1. Coordination Requirements: Internation
Equity.-
2. Coordination Requirements: Neutrality.- B. Personal Consumption
Taxes.-
1. Coordination Requirements: Internation Equity.-
2. Coordination
Requirements: Neutrality.- C. Business Cash Flow Tax.-
1. Coordination
Requirements: Internation Equity.-
2. Coordination Requirements: Neutrality.-
IV. Coordination of Consumption Taxes with Income Taxes.- A. Coordination
Requirements: Internation Equity.- B. Coordination Requirements: Neutrality.-
V. Summary and Conclusion.- Comments by Norbert Andel.- Comments by Klaus
Vogel.- Problems of International Tax Coordination under Alternative
Consumption Tax Regimes.- I. Introduction.- II. International Problems.- A.
The Structure of Problems.- B. World-wide Consumption Taxation.-
1.
Consumption.-
2. Savings.-
3. Income.- C. Unilateral C-taxation.-
1.
Consumption.-
2. Savings.-
3. Income.- III. Conclusion.- Comments by Rolf
Caesar.- Do International Tax Relations Impede a Shift Towards Expenditure
Taxation?.- I. Introduction.- II. The Range of International Tax
Arrangements.- III. Expenditure Tax Scenarios.- IV. International Tax
Relations and Value Added Tax.- V. International Tax Relations and Cash-Flow
Company Taxes.- VI. International Tax Relations and a Personal Expenditure
Tax.- VII. A Political Economy View of Tax Reforms in Open Economies.- VIII.
Conclusion.- Comments by Francesco Forte.- Comments by Klaus Vogel.-
Participants.
Biežāk uzdotie jautājumi par e-grāmatām