Company Tax Reform in the European Union

The European Commission recently proposed to move towards a consolidated tax base for European multinational companies, to be allocated across EU member states through a system of formula apportionment. This paper argues that while the Commission's blueprints for company tax reform may reduce existing problems of transfer pricing, they will also create new distortions as long as existing tax rate differentials are maintained. The paper also investigates the changes in international tax spillovers which will occur as a result of a switch from the current system of separate accounting to formula apportionment. The final part of the paper discusses whether more conventional corporate tax harmonization should still be a long term policy goal for the EU and presents quantitative estimates of the efficiency gains from harmonization.     

增值税征税范围的国际比较与思考

本文通过对国际上实施增值税国家的增值税征税范围的比较分析 ,指出我国现行增值税在征税范围上存在的对于农业和劳务处理方面的问题。提出借鉴外国增值税转型经验改革我国增值税制在征税范围上的规定 ,以完善我国增值税制度     

The Distributional Effects of Indirect Tax Changes in Italy

This paper evaluatesthe distributional and welfare effects of two recent changesof Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise taxes in Italy applying andcomparing two related and complementary methods of analysis:the first based on the distributional characteristics of Feldstein(1972) and recently applied by Newbery (1995); the second basedon the theory of marginal dominance developed by Mayshar andYitzhaki (1996). The paper finds no evidence that the reformshave redistributed purchasing power among households. But themost striking result is that a simpler two-rate VAT structure,set according to the European directives on VAT coordination,could have replaced the present system producing the same revenueand increasing welfare. This last result provides a clear instancein which reducing the number of VAT rates can be welcome evenin the presence of distributional concerns.     

增值税征收范围与免税范围探讨

从税制原理上看,增值税征收范围应覆盖所有商品和劳务。然而,出于公平、技术、成本等原因,开征增值税的国家普遍对部分商品或服务免征增值税。EU、OECD国家的增值税实践为其他各国的增值税改革提供了重要启示,在借鉴这些国家的成熟经验及结合我国实际情况的基础上,建议我国未来增值税征收范围与免税范围的总体目标为覆盖所有商品和劳务并尽量减少免税项目。     

中国集成电路增值税优惠案的反思

中国加入WTO后被诉第一案是中国集成电路增值税优惠案。美国、加拿大、欧盟等国家或组织指控我国集成电路产品增值税即征即退政策违反了我国在《关税与贸易总协定》(GATT)第1条和第3条、《中国加入议定书》及《服务贸易总协定》(GATS)第17条下的义务。本文针对这些指控进行了全面分析,提出了相应观点和看法。     

我国地方税系的重构——基于税收分布视角

地方税系重构需要在考虑地方税收均衡程度的基础上进行,所以,理清税收在各地的分布状况及其差异系数非常关键.分析表明,地方税收的差异系数决定于进入地方税系的税种类别及其在地方税收中的比重.进一步,在中央与地方税收格局不变的限定下,通过模拟计算出地方税系重构八种情景下的地方税收差异系数.同时,基于模拟结果与各种因素的权衡,认为我国地方税系重构不能仅简单依赖增值税分享比例向地方政府的倾斜来实现,而是需要将车辆购置税与部分消费税划归地方政府,之后再以增值税分享比例的调整来稳定地方税收规模.     

VAT attacks!

Like the theory of the second best that the 2006 congress marks, the value added tax (VAT) is now fifty years old. Judged by the extent and speed of its spread around the world, and the revenue that it raises, the VAT would seem to have been a remarkable success. Over the last few years, however, it has come under a series of attacks. This paper considers three of the most prominent of these. One is the fear (raised mainly in the United States) that the VAT actually does too good a job of raising tax revenue—which raises the empirical question of whether it has indeed proved as effective a source of revenue as its proponents claim and its opponents fear. The second is the view that the VAT does a bad job of taxing the informal sector—and that tariffs might consequently be a better revenue-raising instrument for many developing countries. The third attack is the most literal, by criminals rather than theorists: in the European Union and elsewhere, sophisticated VAT fraud, targeting its refund provisions, has become a serious concern. The paper also argues, more generally, that the many unanswered questions concerning the VAT reflect an unfortunate disconnect between the development of the tax itself and of second best tax analysis. I am grateful to Ben Lockwood and Stephen Smith for allowing me to draw on our joint work, and to Vidar Christiansen, Sijbren Cnossen, Isaias Coelho, Alain Jousten, Victoria Perry, and Emil Sunley for many helpful comments and suggestions. Views and errors remain mine alone, and should not be attributed to the International Monetary Fund.     

Response of Tax Credit Claims to Tax Enforcement: Evidence from a Quasi‐Experiment in Chile

Diesel in Chile receives different tax treatments depending on its use. If diesel is used in industrial activities, the diesel taxes paid can be fully used as a credit against VAT, but if it is used in freight or public transportation – basically trucks and buses – only a fraction of diesel taxes paid can be claimed as a tax credit for VAT payments. As a result of this different tax treatment, firms have incentives to use ‘tax‐exempted’ diesel in activities requiring ‘non‐tax‐exempted’ diesel. This tax wedge therefore generates an opportunity for tax evasion, especially for firms with multiple economic activities, one of them being transport. In this paper, we analyse the impact of a tax enforcement programme implemented by the Chilean Internal Revenue Service (IRS), where letters requiring information about diesel purchases and use and vehicle ownership were sent to around 200 firms in 2003. Using different empirical strategies to consider the non‐randomness of the selection of firms, the empirical results show consistently that firms receiving a letter decreased their diesel tax credits by around 10 per cent.     

A proposal to apply the Kiwi-VAT to insurance services in the European Union

In the spirit of the European Commission’s call for a simpler, more robust and efficient VAT system, this article proposes to integrate exempt insurance services into the European VAT, and to abolish the discriminatory, excise-type insurance premium taxes levied by the various Member States. The current VAT exemption (no taxation of insurance services and no credit for the VAT on inputs) is administratively complex and economically distortionary. Instead, the value added of property and casualty insurance companies can be taxed on a transactions basis by applying the VAT to insurance premiums (creditable by VAT-liable businesses) and allowing a presumptive tax credit for the VAT imputable to payouts (plus a credit for the actual VAT on purchases). The presumptive tax credit should be taxed at the level of business recipients, but individuals would receive the VAT along with indemnity payments without having to file a return. Exceptionally, the tax-credit VAT would not be applied to life and health insurance premiums, but insurers would be taxed on an accounts basis on the sum of wages and business cash flow.     

Debating Proposed Reforms of the Taxation of Corporate Income in the European Union

This paper reviews the European Commission's latest proposals (European Commission, 2002) for the co-ordination of corporation taxes within the EU. It provides a brief summary of the report, and then investigates the nature of the tax obstacles identified by the Commission, the conceptual basis of the location of taxation, and the relatively novel lack of attention to the integration of corporate and personal taxes.