Tax policy and planning implications of hidden taxes: effective marginal tax rate exercises

Hidden taxes in the form of floors and phaseouts are prevalent in the current US tax system and can have a considerable impact on the marginal tax rate faced by the taxpayer. It is important that future tax professionals be familiar with the theoretical and practical implications of hidden taxes. This paper provides a series of classroom exercises to illustrate the impact that hidden taxes can have on marginal tax rates. Information for incorporating this material into an introductory tax course is also provided. The exercises help inform students about the impact of specific tax provisions on marginal tax rates and business and investment decisions, while also giving instructors an opportunity to discuss the tax policy considerations that lead to implementation of these provisions.     

How Firms Make Capital Expenditure Decisions: Financial Signals, Internal Cash Flows, Income Taxes and the Tax Reform Act of 1986

This paper empirically assesses the determinants of future net capital expenditures for a broad cross-section of COMPUSTAT firms from 1973 to 1989. We explore three general categories of factors expected to affect investment: (1) external equity financing, (2) internally generated accounting information, and (3) tax incentives. We find that external financing and information plays a role in that both positive stock returns and equity issuances indicate future increases in investment. The results suggest that high stock prices not only lower the cost of capital, but also signal good investment opportunities. Accounting information about internal sources and uses of funds are also important in the investment decision. In particular, net income and depreciation are positive indicators of future investment while there is a tradeoff between the payment of dividends and investment. Further, positive changes in available cash liquidity also motivate future investment. While taxes are not important in the investment decision on average, we find that firms with previously higher income taxes invested substantially more in 1985 and 1986. This coincides with the repeal of the investment tax credit and the accelerated depreciation schedules in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. We view this as evidence that federal tax policy in the 1980's induced firms with high income tax obligations to accelerate capital expenditures just before the favorable tax treatment of capital expenditures was eliminated.     

The Effective Tax Burden of Companies and of Highly Skilled Manpower: Tax Policy Strategies in a Globalised Economy*

Company taxes and taxes on highly skilled labour both influence the attractiveness of a particular region as a location for investment. We measure the effective tax burden on capital investment and on highly qualified labour in 33 locations across Europe and the United States. We then correlate both types of tax burden in order to study the different tax policy strategies applied in different countries. We find that effective tax rates on companies and on highly skilled employees are closely correlated for a number of countries. Ireland and most new EU Member States impose relatively lower taxes on capital investment than on highly skilled manpower. Conversely, in the US, companies are taxed heavily but the effective tax rate on highly skilled employees is moderate.     

The Government Spending Multiplier in Turkey

This study aims to measure the size of the government spending multiplier in Turkey for post-2001 financial crisis period within a structural VAR framework. The analysis demonstrates that a positive shock to government spending tends to increase output, tax, and real interest rate on impact and the size of the fiscal multiplier is relatively large at first few quarters. The fiscal multiplier reaches a peak value of 1.5 at second quarter and then starts to diminish. Furthermore, investigating the effects of the components of government spending reveals the fact that government investment expenditures, rather than consumption expenditures, have a profound impact on output at first few quarters.     

A SIMPLER CONSUMPTION-BASED ALTERNATIVE TO THE INCOME TAX FOR SOCIALIST ECONOMIES IN TRANSITION

The tax systems of socialist economies in transition will distortresource allocation, create inequities, and cause administrativeheadaches if not reformed. These countries have weak tax administrations,lack experience with mass taxes based on voluntary compliance,and need to encourage domestic saving and foreign investment.This article suggests an alternative to the conventional incometax that is more suited to these conditions. Attempting to tax real economic income raises complicated timingissues (when to recognize income and allow deductions) and mayrequire complex adjustments for inflation. The simplified alternativetax (SAT) avoids these complications and provides a generalincentive for saving and investment less subject to abuse ordistortions than tax holidays and other tax gimmicks in voguein countries emerging from socialism. The key elements of the SAT are separate taxes on income fromlabor and capital, immediate deduction for all business expenditures,no deduction for interest, and no taxation of interest or dividends.(Interest could be treated as under an income tax, at some cost.)Although the marginal effective tax rate is zero, the governmentshares in extraordinary returns to investment. The article discussespotential problems (including distributional implications, taxlosses, and foreign tax credits) as well as advantages of theSAT.      

环境税率、双重红利与经济增长

本文构建了一个包含环境税、污染存量和预期寿命的世代交替模型,研究环境税对环境红利和经济发展红利的影响。基于新古典增长模型的研究表明,环境税能够实现双重红利(环境红利和经济发展红利),这契合“绿水青山就是金山银山”的绿色发展理念。从传导机制看,环境税通过负收入效应使得资本积累下降,同时,环境税通过健康效应使得预期寿命延长,这又使得资本积累增加。环境税通过影响资本积累,进而影响环境质量和经济发展。此外,环境税率上升使得用于环境治理的政府支出增加,这使得经济更容易产生环境红利。基于内生增长框架的分析表明,环境税有助于摆脱“环境贫困陷阱”,这为解释国家之间的收入差距提供了一个参考机制。数值模拟结果显示,在新古典增长框架和内生增长框架下,均存在最优的环境税率可以极大化人均产出和经济增长率。本文认为,合理的环境税率有助于推进减污降碳协同治理。     

Tax reforms and the underground economy: a simulation-based analysis

This paper studies the effects of several tax reforms in an economy where taxes are partially evaded by means of undeclared work. To this purpose, we consider a two-sector dynamic general equilibrium model calibrated to Italy which explicitly accounts for underground production. We construct various tax reform scenarios, such as ex ante budget-neutral tax shifts from direct to indirect taxes, and tax cuts on labor and business financed by decreases of government spending. Our results indicate that neglecting the existence of the underground sector may lead to severely miscalculating the macroeconomic effects of tax reforms. Further, the dimension of the underground sector is permanently and considerably reduced by changes in the tax mix that diminish the labor tax wedge. Reductions of the business tax prove to be highly expansionary in the presence of a sizable informal sector.     

Government R&D spending,fiscal instruments and corporate technological innovation

Using panel data from 242 cities in China, we examine the impact of government research and development (R&D) spending on corporate technological innovation. We find that listed firms located in cities with higher government R&D expenditures are more innovative than firms in other cities. Further, the positive effect of government R&D spending depends on fiscal instruments and factor allocation. Through subsidies and tax incentives, government R&D spending enhances firm innovation by alleviating financing constraints, improving employee creativity and ensuring efficient operations. We demonstrate that subsidies are more effective than taxes in spurring corporate technological innovation. We also show that the impact of government R&D spending is stronger for state-owned and high-tech enterprises than for other enterprises. Overall, our findings suggest that government R&D spending can substantially improve corporate technological innovation through fiscal instruments.     

Redistributive impact of indirect tax reforms: Greece, 1988–2002

This paper assesses the distributional impact of indirect taxes among Greek households between 1988 and 2002, a period that coincides with the introduction of significant reforms in the tax system due to EU membership. The highly differentiated indirect tax structure prevailing at the beginning of the period had distributional benefits over the more simplified 2002 tax structure. The overall inequality of the after‐tax welfare distribution has increased by 6–12½ per cent and changes in the indirect tax system seem to explain about half of this increase. The paper also applies a recent method of measuring the distributional impact of relative price changes caused by changes in tax rates of commodities (Newbery, 1995) and establishes that indirect tax reforms introduced since 1988 had an adverse impact on the distribution of purchasing power, which nevertheless seems to be very small.     

The impact of tax holidays on earnings management: An empirical study of corporate reporting behavior in a developing-economy framework

This study investigates whether foreign investment enterprises (FIEs) in China alter their corporate reporting behavior in response to a known schedule of tax-rate increases. The context of this investigation is a tax-incentive scheme that allows firms to pay taxes at a reduced rate for a limited period of time, and then at a higher rate when this period expires. If managers attempt to maximize firm value by minimizing tax costs, then the spread of tax rates in the periods surrounding the rate change may provide a substantial incentive for them to accelerate revenue and defer expenses. Consistent with this hypothesis, the empirical results indicate that firms report significantly higher discretionary current accruals for the years before tax-rate increases. The evidence, which indicates that firms manage earnings upward to take advantage of lower tax rates that are available in certain years, has important implications for tax policymakers.     

Optimal fiscal policy with environmental tax and pollution abatement spending in a model with utility-enhancing environmental quality: lessons from Bulgaria

This paper characterized optimal fiscal policy in the presence of pollution, and evaluated it relative to the observed one in Bulgaria. To this end, a dynamic general-equilibrium model is calibrated to Bulgarian data. The main findings are: (i) The optimal steady-state income tax rate is zero; (ii) the benevolent Ramsey planner provides 20% higher utility-enhancing environmental quality; (iii) the optimal level of carbon taxes is almost three times higher, and the optimal level of abatement spending is six times higher; (iv) the optimal steady-state consumption tax is twice lower.     

中国的经济增长、需求约束与税收结构

在我国目前的经济增长中,出现了投资需求过热而消费需求不足的结构性失衡状况。为此,可以把税收结构引入汉森-萨缪尔森模型,来研究税收结构对投资和消费的影响。通过实证研究发现,在税收结构中,流转税(间接税)比重的增加对投资增长有激励作用,而对边际消费倾向没有显著影响;所得税和其他税(代表了直接税)比重的增加,有利于抑制投资和过快的经济增长,相反,可以提高边际消费倾向,从而促进消费。     

Tax Incidence in Madagascar: An Analysis Using Household Data

This article discusses tax incidence in Madagascar and askswho pays the taxes that finance government spending. Its mainconcern is to identify the progressivity of different taxeslevied in Madagascar, based on the consumption and income patternsfound in the 1994 Enquête Permanente auprès desMénages, a nationally representative survey. The resultssuggest that most taxes are progressive, meaning that wealthyhouseholds pay proportionately more of these taxes relativeto their expenditures than do poor households. Two notable exceptionsare taxes on kerosene and export duties on vanilla, both ofwhich are regressive. These results are consistent with thoseof a study of Ghana, the only other comparable research on taxincidence in Africa. That study found taxes on kerosene andcocoa exports to be the most regressive taxes in Ghana. Making firm policy recommendations for tax reform would requirean analysis of the economic efficiency and administrative efficacyof different taxes to complement this article's work on theirequity implications. Nevertheless, the results suggest thatthe movement away from trade taxes, especially export duties,and toward broadly based value added or income taxes would bemore equitable and more economically efficient. The only legitimateimpediment to such reforms in Madagascar is administrative,that is, the government's ability to collect different taxeseffectively. Although administrative efficiency may be a problemfor value added or income taxes, taxes on petroleum products(except kerosene) are highly progressive and provide a goodtax handle.     

Prospects for Agricultural Land Taxation in Developing Countries

Countries that collect tax revenue from the agricultural sectorthrough export taxes, marketing boards, and overvalued domesticcurrencies are often loath to abandon these distorting policiesbecause of the consequent revenue loss. One potential alternativeis to replace these distortionary taxes with a land tax, whichwould not depress output prices or discourage foreign exchangeearnings and which could be, in theory, a highly progressivetax. The advantages and disadvantages of a land tax are examinedtheoretically and using the specific experiences of Bangladesh,Argentina, and Uruguay. It is concluded that the land tax isnot necessarily more efficient than other types of taxes; theAchilles Heel of land taxation is administration; progressivetax rates based on land holdings are nearly impossible to administer;land taxes have been ineffective at promoting nonrevenue goals;political support by farmers is necessary to implement the tax;and the most promising prospects for a moderate land tax systemare in financing local, rather than central, government expenditures.     

Short term real earnings management prior to stock repurchases

This study examines whether firms engage in income-decreasing real earnings management before open market stock repurchases to reduce the cost of stock buybacks. In the short run, managers have the ability to underproduce inventory and increase discretionary expenditures, thus decreasing current period earnings. We find that managers engage in both of these activities before repurchasing their firms’ shares, especially the latter. Also, companies increase their discretionary spending before making repurchases to a greater extent following the passage of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 as well as when they are financially healthy and have high marginal tax rates. Finally, we document that firms with the most income-decreasing real earnings management experience the largest positive abnormal returns during the subsequent period. Our findings highlight the importance of considering firms’ use of real operating decisions, as opposed to just opportunistic disclosure practices, around significant corporate events, such as the repurchase of their own stock.     

Dynamic Effects of Extending the 2001 and 2003 Income Tax Cuts

This paper focuses on the impact of permanently extending most of the provisions in EGTRRA and JGTRRA, coupled with potential legislative changes to the AMT, on the federal deficit, the distribution of after-tax income, and economic growth. The paper shows that including moderate behavioral responses offsets 16 percent of the static revenue loss estimate from 2005 to 2014. In addition, including behavioral responses implies that the percentage change in after-tax income from permanently extending the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts would be largest for taxpayers with incomes ranging from $20,000 to $40,000. Finally, the simulation results suggest that extending the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts and reducing the growth rate of government spending (excluding Social Security and Medicare), assuming that government expenditures are cut to avoid dramatic increases in government consumption relative to GDP in comparison to historical norms, would increase investment, employment, and output. However, postponing the implementation of tight spending controls would more than offset the positive benefits of lower tax rates on the size of the economy and leave future generations with fewer resources for private consumption and production.JEL Code: E62, H20, H30, H60The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect those of the Baker Institute for Public Policy or any other organization. This paper was partially written while the author was employed by the Joint Committee on Taxation.     

Macro‐Fiscal Volatility and the Composition of Public Spending*

Earlier empirical literature has examined some long‐ and medium‐term aspects of macro‐fiscal volatility while leaving its short‐term fiscal impact unexplored. To help fill that gap, we examine the impact of macro‐fiscal volatility on the composition of public spending. To that end, we analyse a panel of 10 EU countries during 1991–2007. Our results suggest that increases in the volatility of regularly‐collected and cyclical revenues such as the VAT and income taxes tend to tilt the expenditure composition in favour of public investment. In contrast, increases in the volatility of ad hoc taxes such as capital taxes tend to favour public consumption spending, albeit only a little. We interpret such volatility innovations as conveying news to the fiscal policymaker about the underlying economic conditions, with especially regularly‐collected and cyclical taxes prompting short‐term cyclical fine‐tuning.     

The evolution of emissions trading in the European Union – The role of policy networks,knowledge and policy entrepreneurs

This paper starts with a recapitulation of how emissions trading became a cornerstone of the European Union’s climate policy. While a whole bouquet of reasons can be identified the major reasons why the EU Commission decided to pursue the establishment of an emissions trading scheme within the EU are: (1) the integration of international emissions trading into the Kyoto Protocol; (2) the failure of the 6th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the withdrawal of the United States from the Kyoto Protocol negotiations; and (3) the unsuccessful attempt to introduce an EU-wide CO₂-tax. Other reasons were the fact that emissions trading did not need unanimity in the European Council like the CO₂-tax; the economic efficiency of emissions trading which appealed not only to the Commission but also to industry and Member States; the danger of a fragmented carbon market as the United Kingdom and Denmark had already set up domestic emissions trading schemes that were incompatible; the incentive a European emissions trading scheme would be for the formation of a global carbon market; and the possibility to influence investment strategies of power companies towards a sustainable modernisation of the EU’s power generation infrastructure.Drawing upon these preconditions, this paper analyses the development of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Based on the fact that the EU is embedded in a multi-level policy-making architecture which encourages the emergence of policy networks it is argued that the EU ETS has been shaped by an (informal) issue-specific policy network established by some staff members from DG Environment, including individuals knowledgeable on emissions trading – such as experts from consultancies, environmental NGOs and the business sector. It is argued that within this European policy network on emissions trading the European Emissions Trading Directive – as adopted on 13 October 2003 – has been negotiated and developed. It is concluded that the sharing of knowledge about this relatively new and largely unknown regulatory instrument and about design options for a potential European emissions trading scheme was the key momentum for the establishment and continuity of this policy network and that the ability of managing knowledge generation processes was the main factor to allow for a few staff members from DG Environment to play a dominant role as policy entrepreneurs in developing the European Emissions Trading Directive, even beyond their formal role of proposing the scheme as representatives from the EU Commission.     

The tax-induced holding periods of real estate Investors: Theory and empirical evidence

This article reexamines holding period decisions in real estate investment. It develops and empirically tests a holding period model recognizing not only taxes but also refinancing and investor-specific determinants. Based on a sample of over 1,000 real estate transactions with observed holding periods, the results of our tests support the conclusion that investors' consumption and investment preferences and prevailing market interest rates are more important than tax issues in determining the holding periods of real estate investors.     

Government spending on research and development in the UK

This paper explores the extent of current UK government spending on science and technology placed in its recent historical context. The allocation of this spending across the different arms of government, the primary purposes of the expenditures undertaken and the extent to which the government performs as well as funds R&D are also explored, with some international comparisons analysed. The political and institutional processes that determine the revealed patterns of expenditure in the UK, the rationales behind such spending and the aims and objectives of the main spending departments are discussed, as is the interaction with EU expenditures on science and technology. The effectiveness of or pay-off to government support of this kind is also considered before future spending plans are addressed.