Tax Liability and Tax Evasion in a Competitive Labor Market

In a competitive labor market, a change in the legal incidence of a tax on labor will not alter employment if tax obligations are fulfilled. However, this irrelevance result may no longer apply if taxes can be evaded. In particular, a shift from payroll to income taxes will lower employment. This will be the case if workers exhibit constant absolute risk aversion, have a utility function, which is strongly separable in income and the disutility from working, and the penalty for evasion is not proportional to the amount of taxes evaded. Accordingly, tax evasion opportunities can make the legal incidence of a tax on labor an important determinant of its economic incidence.     

Indirect Tax Exemptions and the Distribution ot Lifetime Income: A Simulation Analysis*

This paper uses a simulation model to compare the lifetime consequences of a revenue neutral partial shift towards a consumption tax, involving exemptions, with its cross-sectional effects. Exemptions of goods consumed proportionately more by lower income groups reduce the inequality of the distribution of net lifetime consumption by more than in the cross-sectional case. However, the tax shift increases lifetime inequality by more than it increases cross-sectional inequality, and the net effect is that exemptions cannot compensate for the income tax change. Concern with inequality is most appropriately handled by raising transfer payments rather than introducing exemptions.     

Tax Evasion and the Time Consistency of the Government's Income Tax Policy

It is shown that it is not necessarily optimal for the government to tax capital income at a high rate even when capital is in fixed supply because the supply of capital for tax purposes may be elastic if capital income tax evasion occurs. An example is given where the wage tax rate is positive and greater than the interest income tax rate even though capital is in fixed supply. Conditions are also derived under which the capital income tax rate is lower in the closed-loop policy game, where capital is fixed, than in the open-loop game, where it is not.
JEL Classification Numbers: E61, H26.     

基于高收入群体的税收政策反思

中国的某些税收政策没有起到调节收入分配、缩小收入差距的作用,对形成高收入群体的收入来源和财产,往往采取轻税政策,广大低收入者由于在收入、财产等方面的匮乏使其无法享受到税收优惠的好处。中国应改变目前的税收政策取向,加大对高收入群体的征税力度,发挥税收政策调节功能,实现收入分配公平。     

中国个人所得税的性质及其效果分析

以工资薪金税收为主体的个人所得税是一种消费者税。由于起征额的存在,个人所得税并不是一种完全的所得税,而是一种个人收入调节税。基于消费者税的理论基础,提出了关于中国代表性居民纳税人的理论平均税负的一个简单模型,以及一个关于中国个人所得税对全部税收的贡献率的理论计算公式。中国个人所得税改革应着眼于如何改善工薪所得税的累进性,增强税收的收入再分配职能,相对提高低收入劳动者的实际报酬。为此,应将个人所得税易名为个人收入调节税,减少税率档次,提高免征额。     

内、外资企业所得税合并中的几个理论问题探讨

中国正经历着新一轮的税制改革,而内、外资企业所得税的合并成为人们关注的焦点问题。从纳税人、税率、税前扣除和税收优惠等几个基本理论问题的界定,分析内、外资企业所得税存在的差异以及合并中存在的问题,进而为内、外资企业所得税的合并提供一个理论框架。     

效率与公平兼顾的最优所得税:理论框架及最优税率估计

最优所得税主要探讨税收如何兼顾公平与效率问题,以及给定公平偏好程度下,如何确定最优边际税率水平。即使在崇尚罗尔斯社会福利函数的社会里,政府同时兼顾再分配和财政收入目标的基础上,只要略加考虑税收对劳动供给的效应,哪怕是微弱的考虑和兼顾,最高边际税率都不会达到100%。而且,借鉴斯特恩最优线性所得税模型及美国个人所得税制度,估计我国现行个人所得税最高边际税率还可以适当降低到36%左右。     

Income Shifting within a Dual Income Tax System: Evidence from the Finnish Tax Reform of 1993*

Dual income tax systems can suffer from income that shifts from progressively taxed labour income to capital income, which is taxed at a lower, flat rate. This paper empirically examines the 1993 Finnish dual income tax reform, which radically reduced the marginal tax rates on capital income for some, but not all, taxpayers. We measure how overall taxable income and the relative shares of capital income and labour income reacted to the reform. We find that the reform led to a small positive impact on overall taxable income, but part of the positive response was probably offset by income shifting among the self‐employed.     

The Rise and Likely Fall of the German Income Tax, 1958-2005

Data from official statistics and tax laws are exploited todescribe fifty years of income taxation in Germany, with a focuson its role as a fiscal and distributive tool. The temporalpattern that emerges from the data is one of a golden age ofthe German income tax, followed by a slow shift towards a majorcrisis. The turning point on the income-tax path seems to haveoccurred in 1986. I put forward the thesis that this downturnwas the outcome of a long-term change in the balance of politicalpower. That change is probably rooted in structural breaks thatoccurred in the German economy during the 1970s and early 1980s.(JEL D31, D72, H23}.     

2011年个人所得税改革的收入再分配效应

本文考察2011年9月1日实施的个人所得税改革的收入再分配效应。根据目前我国分项课征的个人所得税征管模式,本文推导出税收的收入再分配效应指数按收入构成的分解方法。根据该分解方法的主要分析结果可概括为两点:其一,平均税率的高低是个税收入分配效应大小的主要决定因素,累进性则是次要的。由于平均税率的降低,本次税收改革弱化了本来就十分微弱的个人所得税的收入分配效应。其二,我国个人所得税整体累进性指数随工资薪金所得费用扣除的提高呈倒U型。十分巧合的是,本次改革确定的3500元免征额正好处于倒U型的最大值,超过3500元的费用扣除反而会削弱我国个税的累进性。     

从税收公平角度看我国个人所得税制的全面性改革

公平原则是各国税制建立的基本出发点和基本原则。公平的个人所得税制将可以充分发挥其调节收入公平分配的独特功能。然而,由于在税制模式、税率结构、费用扣除和税收征管等方面的缺陷,导致我国现行个人所得税制的公平缺失非常严重。因此,必须对个人所得税制进行全面性改革,即通过转变税制模式、科学设计税率结构、合理规定费用扣除标准和完善税收征管等方面的改革,提高其公平性,以有效发挥其调节功能,实现社会公平目标。     

个人所得税的累进性改革问题——基于单一个人所得税改革的前景分析

按照与市场经济运行机制相适应的要求,对个人所得税制度进行一次比较彻底变革,除了应在税基方面建立起分类与综合相结合的个人所得税制以外,一个核心的问题就是重构个人所得税的税率结构。我国可实行分两步走的渐进改革方案和一步到位的单一税改革方案。改革后的个人所得税制应该是按照递增的平均税率但又是递减的边际税率对全部所得课税这两方面的结合。中国具备实施单一税改革的政治、财政与技术条件,目前改革的时机也是合适的。     

从税收的纵向公平原则看我国个人所得税的设计

公平与效率问题贯穿于经济运行过程及其制度安排中。税制的理想境界是达到公平与效率的统一。税收公平包括两方面的内容：横向公平和纵向公平。现代税制的设计均较多地涉及横向公平。纵向公平则体现在所得税制中，而且尤以采用累进税制的个人所得税，更好地体现了纵向公平原则。     

Tax bases,tax rates and the elasticity of reported income

Tax reforms usually change both tax rates and tax bases. Using a panel of income tax returns spanning the two major U.S. tax reforms of the 1980s and a number of smaller tax law changes, I find that the elasticity of income reported on personal income tax returns depends on the available deductions. This highlights that this key behavioral elasticity is not an immutable parameter but rather that it can be to some extent controlled by policy makers. One implication is that base broadening reduces the marginal efficiency cost of taxation. The results are very similar for all income categories indicating that the rich are more responsive to tax rates because tax rules that apply to them are different (their tax base is narrower). The point estimates indicate that the Tax Reform Act of 1986 reduced the marginal cost of collecting a dollar of tax revenue, with roughly half of this reduction due to the base broadening and the other half due to the tax rate reduction. As a by-product, the analysis in this paper offers a reconciliation of disparate estimates obtained by previous studies of the tax responsiveness of income.     

完善个人所得税制度研究

个人所得税制改革必须与国情相结合分步实施、循序渐进,而不能一步到位。“十一五”乃至更长的一段时期,个人所得税制应按照主要体现收入再分配的政策目标来完善:实行综合与分类相结合的混合所得税制课税模式;简并税率形式,调整税率的幅度和结构;采取有效措施,减少个人所得税流失。     

两税合并、税收筹划与盈余管理方式选择

文章以2007年的两税合并为背景,研究上市公司出于税收筹划的目的如何选择盈余管理方式。研究发现,税率下降公司由于税率下降幅度较大,税收筹划收益较高,因此进行了显著向下的应计盈余管理,而没有选择真实盈余管理方式;而税率上升公司则由于存在5年的过渡期,税收筹划收益较低,因此既没有进行显著的应计盈余管理,也没有进行显著的真实盈余管理。这意味着上市公司在进行税收筹划时会综合权衡各种避税方式的成本收益,进而选择最合适的避税方式。政府部门在制定税收政策时必须预先考虑企业可能的税收筹划策略,以达到预期的政策效果。     

Imperfect Tax Compliance and the Optimal Provision of Public Goods

Our aim in this paper is to investigate whether the presence of imperfect income tax compliance affects the optimal provision of public goods within a framework in which public expenditure is financed by a general income tax that also accomplishes redistributive goals. We first derive the income tax structure, and then a generalized Samuelson rule. We argue that, under imperfect income tax compliance, it is desirable to distort public–good supply downwards, in the sense that the sum of marginal rates of substitution between public and private consumption must exceed their marginal rate of transformation.     

Environmental Tax Reform and Growth: Income Tax Cuts or Profits Tax Reduction

This study investigates how recycling revenues, which are generated by environmental taxes, affect growth through different types of tax cuts. A growth model with creative destruction (Aghion and Howitt Econometrica 60(2):323–351,1992, Aghion and Howitt The economics of growth, 2009) is modified to include the production of final output as a source of pollution. This paper demonstrates that introducing an environmental tax, accompanied by either an income tax cut or a profits tax reduction, increases the output growth rate. The analysis also shows that, if technological change is resulted from deliberate activities of economic agents, the reduction of the profits tax rate for an intermediate monopolist is more growth-enhancing than an income tax cut since a profits tax reduction directly promotes R&D activities.     

Tax Evasion, Tax Competition and the Gains From Nondiscrimination: the Case of Interest Taxation in Europe

This paper uses a game–theoretic approach to analyse the taxation of interest income in Europe in the presence of tax evasion. The model allows us to assess the success of various reform proposals. We argue that the tax treatment of nonresidents' interest income plays a crucial role. When decisions on discrimination and on withholding tax rates are made non-cooperatively, the outcome is similar to a prisoners' dilemma. All countries discriminate, but in equilibrium internationally mobile portfolio capital evades taxation successfully. In contrast, if all governments did not discriminate, tax competition leads to less tax evasion.     

Trading Off Tax Distortion and Tax Evasion

Income tax evasion is modeled as a risky activity and integrated into a standard optimal tax problem in which there is a good whose sales are observable. If the penalty for evasion is proportional to the tax evaded (the Yitzhaki scheme), the optimal tax structure is unaffected by evasion. If the penalty is proportional to unreported income (the Allingham–Sandmo scheme), it is efficient to tax both the observable good and income. The cost of the risk of tax evasion is traded off against the distortion from taxing the observable good. For equal penalties, Allingham/Sandmo is more efficient than Yitzhaki.