The State of Play of Effective Marginal Tax Rates in Australia in 1997

This paper looks at the impact of the means tests in the current income tax and social security systems on the incentives for Australians to work or work more and examines the number of Australians facing poor workforce incentives.     

Corporate Debt,Hybrid Securities,and the Effective Tax Rate

Effective tax rates (ETRs) are useful tools to make comparisons between different tax systems. However, the existing ETR measures are based on rather simplifying assumptions. In particular, they disregard the existence of different kinds of debt and hybrid securities. In this paper, we use contingent‐claim analysis to calculate the ETR. We will therefore deal with both pure debt and two of the most well‐known hybrid securities, that is, convertible and reverse convertible bonds. We will show that effective taxation crucially depends on the characteristics of debt and that the existing measures of ETR can be dramatically biased, since they account neither for default risk nor for the ability to convert debt into equity.     

Tax Policy and Corporate Financial Structure in Korea

One of the issues of great policy concern in Korea has been the unusually high degree of financial leverage and the continuous deterioration of corporate capital structure. The capital structure existing at any one time and its change over time reflects corporate responses to the surrounding stimuli. To analyze the excessive leverage and the change in the corporate capital structure, this paper develops a theoretical model which takes into account the tax and nontax factors, both of which include general and Korea-specific aspects. The empirical test using the data of the last 25 years supports the hypotheses derived from the theoretical model. [320]     

企业税负、就业税盾与就业激励

利用2001—2009年间我国非上市工业企业的数据,分析了我国企业所得税税负与就业税盾对就业的激励作用。研究结果表明,我国企业所得税税负的适当提高有利于扩大企业对劳动力的需求,旧所得税法中对外资企业实行的低税率优惠政策反而不利于就业;工资总额据实扣除的就业税盾有助于激励企业增加就业,但研发费的加计扣除政策即使放松条件后对就业的激励作用仍不明显。鉴于我国当前税负对就业的促进作用,应当实时监控企业税负对就业的影响作用,避免税负过高对企业就业产生抑制作用。此外,还应增加企业就业税盾的扣除。     

调节产业结构的税收政策研究

税收是市场经济条件下政府调节产业结构的重要手段之一。税收对产业结构的调节作用,是通过相对减少投资者的利润以减少投资或相对增加投资者的利润以促进投资来实现的。但不同税种的调节效果不一样。流转税调节产业结构在短期内很有效,长期使用则会导致逆向调节,而所得税的调节效果较好。我国应建立以所得税为主并与流转税等税收相互配合形成合力的税收政策以促进产业结构的优化升级。     

委内瑞拉汇率政策变化及对所得税的影响

委内瑞拉畸形的汇率政策产生了不少问题。货币严重贬值,通货膨胀率和社会物价水平逐年居高不下。除此之外,汇率政策还影响了笔者所在公司的经营活动,包括资金、所得税费用和净利润等。文章简要阐述了委内瑞拉汇率政策的变化情况和影响,如何进行所得税计算,汇率政策对于所得税计算和缴纳的影响,以及汇率政策对未来和背后深层次的影响。     

试论中国税收结构优化的政策与策略安排

为实现中国由间接税为主向直接税为主的税收结构转变,应重视税收结构与财政支出结构的匹配与协调,优化国民收入初次分配结构,增大劳动报酬在国民收入中的比重,将地方政府土地财政转型为房产税或物业税财政,优化地方政府的土地使用权出让规模并适当降低土地使用权出让价格。     

An Evaluation of Unemployment Policy in Australia Using the Range of Equilibria

The major failures of macroeconomic policy in the last 40 years are the huge increases in unemployment and inflation in the 1970s and the persistence for 25 years of the former. This article uses econometric estimates of a model of the range of equilibria for Australia for the period 1965:4 to 2003:3 to evaluate the role of macroeconomic policies in these failures. Our analysis distinguishes the roles of aggregate supply policies and aggregate demand policies. We conclude from our analysis that macroeconomic outcomes would have been better over this period had monetary policy been guided by a hierarchical inflation target, which is to be set so as to achieve the highest level of activity subject to satisfying the inflation target.     

Tax Policy and Tax Administration in Russia: The Case of the Banking Sector

The 'informal' sector of an economy is generally seen as a private sphere, where agents seek to escape the reach of the state and, in particular, the tax organs. However, given the weakness of the Russian state and the enormous scale of informal economic activity, the fiscal authorities try to cope, at least in part, by adopting informal strategies of their own. This paper aims to deepen our understanding of how this informal fiscal system actually works. While the analysis here focuses on the banking system, its implications for tax and accounting reform extend far beyond the banking sector.     

Context-Sensitive Benefit Transfer Using Stated Choice Models: Specification and Convergent Validity for Policy Analysis

Benefit transfer has been an important, practical policy tool appealing to government agencies, especially when time or budget is constrained. However, the literature fails to support convergent validity of benefit transfer using the stated-preference method. This empirical study conducts four convergent validity assessments of benefit transfer using the choice modeling method and data from Rhode Island and Massachusetts, regarding coastal land management. The comparisons evaluate how individual characteristics improve benefit transfer and yield insights relevant to research specifications to produce studies adaptable for transfer applications. Empirical tests show benefit transfer using choice modeling may be acceptable, and even empirically valid, depending on the policy objectives and the context.     

Fiscal Policy in Australia and Southeast Asia: An Overview

Ian M. McDonald introduces a Policy Forum on Fiscal Policy in Australia and Southeast Asia . In this Policy Forum two papers focus on the fiscal policy of the Howard Government. A third paper considers the role of fiscal policy in the currency crisis in Southeast Asia.     

The Environmental and Economic Impact of the Carbon Tax in Australia

To fulfil its emission reduction target pledged in the Copenhagen accord, the Australian Government has determined to introduce a carbon tax from July 1st 2012. This paper simulates the effects on the environment and on the economy of a carbon tax of A$23 per tonne of carbon dioxide proposed by the government with, and without, a compensation policy. We employ a computable general equilibrium model with an environmentally extended Social accounting matrix. According to the simulation results, the carbon tax can cut emissions effectively, but will cause a mild economic contraction. Because the price signal is intact, the proposed compensation plan has little impact on emission cuts while significantly mitigating the negative effect of a carbon tax on the economy.     

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。     

Ricardian Equivalence and the Efficacy of Fiscal Policy in Australia

Events surrounding the global financial and economic crises of 2008 and 2009 have sparked a renewed interest in discretionary fiscal policy. This article considers whether private saving in Australia behaves in a manner that is consistent with Ricardian equivalence, thus mitigating the effects of fiscal policy, or conversely, if fiscal policy has some ability to influence the real economy. Results indicate that, while there is not a full Ricardian response to changes in the fiscal stance, there is some partial offsetting behaviour—implying that fiscal policy does elicit some (limited) impact on economic activity.