Tax structure and entrepreneurship

Using macro-level panel data, we examine the effects of taxation and tax progressivity on entrepreneurship in a large group of European countries. We address two main questions. First, we try to explore whether tax increases discourage entrepreneurial activity, focusing on new self-employment (nascent entrepreneurship). Second, we investigate the impact of tax progressivity on entrepreneurship, again focusing on new self-employment. We find that tax progressivity at higher-than-average incomes has a robust negative effect on nascent entrepreneurship. We discuss the policy implications of our results.     

我国个人所得税累进性的实证分析:1995-2006

税收累进性是评价税制公平性的重要标准之一。在对税收累进性测量方法梳理和述评的基础上,实证分析了1995-2006年间我国个人所得税的累进性,得到以下结论:除低收入户、中等偏下户和最高收入户某些年份出现累退情况外,其余收入阶层都是累进的:个人所得税制是累进的,且除2001-2002年外,累进性变动轨迹是唯一的。不过,总体累进性呈下降趋势。随后,进一步进行成因分析,并提出相应的政策建议。     

我国个人所得税再分配效应及累进性的实证分析

税收是调节收入分配差距的有效手段之一。本文循着层层递进的逻辑,建立了税收再分配效应及累进性分解的数学理论模型,实证分析了1995年到2008年间我国个人所得税的再分配效应,剖析了影响其变动的深层次原因。结果表明:除2006年外,我国个人所得税起到了正向、且进一步加强的再分配效应,但调节效果非常有限;平均税率明显偏低,累进性基本呈下降趋势;分类征收模式导致总体累进性下降,工资薪金所得税是个人所得税累进性的主要来源;免征额在工资薪金所得税的累进性中起主导作用,其次是税率结构,而社会保障支出起较小的累进(或累退)效果。因此,在公平视角下改革与完善我国个人所得税制迫在眉睫。     

Taxation and entrepreneurship in a welfare state

Does tax policy affect the rate of self-employment in a modern welfare state? This question is analyzed empirically based on Swedish data for the entire postwar period. Available tax data indicate that payroll taxes have had a negative influence on the unincorporated rate of self-employment, though the effect is modest. No effects from regular labor income taxation or capital gains taxation are found. The paper improves upon earlier studies in that it tries to separate the effects of different taxes and uses cointegration techniques. A further extension is that it studies a Scandinavian high-tax welfare state. Earlier time-series studies analyzing self-employment and taxation have, with few exceptions, been based on data from countries with relatively low tax levels and less comprehensive welfare systems, notably the USA and the UK.     

增值税“扩围”对城镇居民收入分配影响分析

通过微观模拟方法,就1995—2010年增值税"扩围"对城镇居民收入分配格局的影响进行模拟测算。结果显示:就整体影响而言,增值税"扩围"对收入分配的逆向调节有所减弱;就增值税和营业税各自的累进性而言,对低收入者的负面影响均较大,且消费项目间调节的差异较为明显。在继续实行增值税"扩围"的过程中,需要考虑消费项目对居民收入分配所可能产生的潜在影响,非对称地调整行业间税负。     

Tax Policy and Entrepreneurship: New Time Series Evidence

Have tax policies affected entrepreneurial activity in the U.S.? We extend the time series literature on this topic by using more recent data and modern econometric techniques to examine the importance of federal income, payroll, capital gains, corporate income, and estate taxes on self-employment rates. Regression results show that most of these taxes have significant but small effects on self-employment activity. A battery of cointegration and causality tests confirms the general finding that taxes can have significant influences on entrepreneurship, but they are likely to be ineffective tools for generating meaningful changes in entrepreneurial activity.     

Does health reform affect self-employment? Evidence from Massachusetts

This paper evaluates whether the implementation of the 2006 Massachusetts health reform law affected the decision of taxpayers to be self-employed, using both difference-in-differences and synthetic control methods on a panel of tax returns that spans 1999–2010. Though tenuous, our results suggest that the reform led to a decline in the rate of taxpayers earning a majority of income from self-employment. In addition, it appears to have had a positive impact on earning some self-employment income among joint filers and earning the majority of income from self-employment among older taxpayers, but these were offset by negative impacts on single filers and taxpayers age 35–49.     

Challenging Masculinity in CSR Disclosures: Silencing of Women’s Voices in Tanzania’s Mining Industry

Guilt is a powerful emotion that is known to influence ethical decision-making. Nevertheless, the role of guilt cognitions in influencing restorative behaviour following an unethical action is not well understood. Guilt cognitions are interrelated beliefs about an individual’s role in a negative event. We experimentally investigate the joint impact of three guilt cognitions—responsibility for a decision, justification for a decision, and foreseeability of consequences—on a taxpayer’s decision to make a tax amnesty disclosure. Tax amnesties encourage delinquent taxpayers to self-correct to avoid severe penalties that would result if their tax evasion were discovered. Our findings suggest a three-way interaction effect such that taxpayers are likely to make tax amnesty disclosures when they foresee that they will be caught by the tax authority, unless they can diffuse responsibility for their evasion and justify their evasion. Implications for tax policy and tax professionals are discussed.     

Do Lower Taxes Stimulate Self-Employment?

This paper investigates the relation between taxation and the share of self-employed in two data sets. First, in a panel of OECD countries a strong negative correlation is found between the tax burden and the share of self-employed in total employment. Unfortunately the OECD data contains a number of measurement problems, and too few observations to allow a reliable detection of reverse causation. Therefore the analysis is complemented with regressions on the relation between the income tax and the share of self-employed using a panel of Swedish counties over the previous two decades. Here again there is a strong negative correlation between the tax burden and the share of self-employment. This survives simultaneous equations estimates and tests of Granger causality. Both samples indicate that reducing the tax burden by 10 percentage points (of GDP) increases the share of self-employed by about 3 percent of total employment.     

Does self-employment increase the economic well-being of low-skilled workers?

Low-skilled workers do not fare well in today’s skill intensive economy and their opportunities continue to diminish. Utilizing data from the survey of income and program participation, this paper provides an analysis of the economic returns to business ownership among low-skilled workers and addresses the essential question of whether self-employment is a good option for low-skilled individuals that policymakers might consider encouraging. The analysis reveals substantial differences in the role of self-employment among low-skilled workers across gender and nativity—women and immigrants are shown to be of particular importance from both the perspectives of trends and policy relevance. We find that, although the returns to low-skilled self-employment among men is higher than among women, the analysis shows that wage/salary employment is a more financially rewarding option for most low-skilled workers.     

Insights on Tax Evasion Using a Monetary Circuit Model

The paper analyses the impact of tax evasion on government budgets, using a monetary circuit model. It is possible to show that, under specific parameter values, evading taxes on profit becomes an attractive proposition when government policies tax capital and employment in different ways and on different timescales. Without adequate tax enforcement, government is reduced to acting as a financial backer for companies. Furthermore, a lower tax rate on labour income enabling money to flow from households to companies through private consumption reduces incentives for tax evasion. These results hold true even if the government decides to implement a balanced budget fiscal policy.     

新企业所得税法实施后的税收征管改进

新《企业所得税法》与现行内外资企业所得税相比,其主要内容和特点表现在纳税人身份的判定和纳税义务的确定,统一税率,规范计税依据的确认,以产业优惠为主、地区优惠为辅的政策导向,整合税收优惠政策以及加强征收管理等方面。新《企业所得税法》的实施对税收征管中的税源管理、税基管理、征管能力、反避税等方面提出了新的要求。企业所得税的征管水平直接关系着税收收入的组织,关系着所得税的调控力度。针对新《企业所得税法》实施后征管的新要求,文章提出,应优化税源管理机制,强化税源监控;深入有效宣传新税法,进一步加强日常征管,全面清理优惠政策,确保所得税政策的全面、准确贯彻执行;优化机构设置,职责合理分工,明晰企业所得税的征管归属;积极推行反避税工作,防止税收流失。     

The determinants of changes in U.S. self-employment, 1968–1987

Summary The self-employment rate depends on the distribution of full-time workers across ages, educational levels, and industries and on tax rates and business conditions. About 90 percent of the variation in self-employment across time and across age groups is explained by these factors. Swings in the self-employment rate over time result from the interplay of changes in these factors. The entry of the baby-boom generation into the labor-force beginning in the later 1960s has led to a decrease in the average age of the full-time nonagricultural workforce and has tended to decrease the self-employment rate. The secular decline of manufacturing, the secular rise of services, and secular increases in educational levels have tended to increase the self-employment rate. Fluctuations in business conditions and tax rates have also affected the self-employment rate. The evidence reported here suggests that self-employment is procyclical, although not strongly so. Increases in effective federal income during the late 1970s tended to increase self-employment rates while decreases during the Reagan years tended to decrease self-employment rates.These findings are helpful for speculating about the answers to three important questions. First, are people more entrepreneurial than they used to be? The fact that the ebb and flow of self-employment over time can be explained almost entirely by structural changes in the economy suggests that people with given demographic characteristics and morking in particular industries have not become more likely to try entrepreneurship²⁸.Second, did the supply of entrepreneurs increase during the Reagan years? The answer is yes and no²⁹. The number of people who operate full-time businesses has certainly increased: from 5.99 million in 1981 to 6.46 million in 1985. The absolute supply of entrepreneurs has risen. But the number of people who are full-time wage workers has also increased: from 65.2 million in 1981 to 71.6 million in 1985. The fraction of workers who operate businesses has fallen: it increased from 9.3 percent in 1981 to a peak of 10.0 percent in 1983 and then fell to 9.1 percent in 1985. The relative supply of entrepreneurs has thus fallen. Ironically, one of the many causes for the decline in the relative supply of entrepreneurs was the decrease in tax rates that were, according to supply-side advocates, supposed to have increased entrepreneurship³⁰.Third, will we see rising or falling self-employment in the coming decade? Predicting future rates of self-employment is treacherous because these rates depend upon many factors. The aging of the baby-boom generation will by itself lead to sharply increasing rates of self-employment as the baby-boomers, who started turning 40 in 1985, pass through the peak years of self-employment. This upward trend may be offset by a number of more fragile structural changes in the economy. The sharp decline of the dollar may reinvigorate manufacturing at the expense of services. If so, self-employment will decline. Further lowering of federal income tax rates may reduce the gains from tax-avoidance through self-employment and thereby impart a further downward trend in self-employment rates. Other changes that have helped increase self-employment may have run their course. Female labor-force participation rates and educational levels among both men and women may have reached a plateau. If so, these factors will cease to be a factor in changing self-employment rates.This paper has analyzed the determinants of changes in the aggregate rate of self-employment across age cohorts. When examining aggregate rates of self-employment we have ignored more subtle questions concerning why particular individuals choose to try self-employment at particular times in their careers and what makes a successful entrepreneur. These questions await future research.We would like to thank Jules Lichtenstein and Edward Starr for helpful comments and suggestions.     

Self-employment of older Americans: do recessions matter?

As high unemployment rates linger following the latest recession, job opportunities can be sparse, especially for older workers. This might prompt older Americans to seek out opportunities in self-employment. Alternatively, recession-related decreases in economic activity might make self-employment less attractive. Using the Health and Retirement Study, we find that unemployed respondents are more likely to enter self-employment and that these decisions are clearly affected by recessions, although the effects differ by recession and gender. Unlike men, women’s self-employment decisions are very sensitive to other sources of household income, and women are less likely to become self-employed the deeper the recession.     

Regressive Tax Rates and the Unethical Taxation of Salaried Income

In a regressive tax system, lower-income taxpayers pay larger percentages of their incomes in taxes compared to higher-income taxpayers. Although most policymakers and citizens view regressive taxation as generally unfair and unethical, the U.S. tax system taxes wage, salary, and self-employment income in a manner that deliberately subjects lower-income taxpayers to marginal tax rates that are greater than those imposed on higher-income taxpayers. As a result, some lower-income taxpayers pay a larger percentage of their income in taxes than higher-income taxpayers. In this essay, we argue that this regressiveness in the taxation of salaried income is unfair and unethical. We then evaluate President Obama’s social security plan, which would retain most of the current tax system’s regressive structure. Finally, we offer two simple alternative proposals that are non-regressive, and thus more fair and ethical approaches to the taxation of salaried income.     

Steuerflucht und Steueroasen

The current debate on tax planning has to distinguish between tax evasion and aggressive tax planning. While tax evasion is illegal and requires the enhanced exchange of information, measures against aggressive tax planning seem to be very complex and complicated. Tax havens’ benefits from tax haven activities are inversely related to the intensity of competition among tax havens. Once the set of tax havens narrows, each havens’ share of the business increases and its margins go up. This competition aspect makes initial successes easy but final success very difficult. Nevertheless, some authors argue that action against tax flight is inevitable. As tax flight is a multilateral phenomenon, coordinated initiatives by country groups appear particularly promising. Here the EU should be in the vanguard. Only automatic information exchange generates the transparency and leeway needed to eliminate income tax evasion and to permit countries to devise tax codes at their own discretion. Despite the European trend towards lower corporate taxes, an empirical analysis shows that German multinationals have increased their tax haven activities. Recent research suggests that this development might be explained by the increased usage of anti-tax avoidance measures by high-tax countries. The substitutive nature of different tax-avoidance schemes indicates that only a coordinated closing of loopholes for profit shifting would reduce the demand for tax-haven operations significantly.     

我国个人所得税流失问题

个人所得税是我国财政收入的主要来源之一。然而,在我国现行税制中,个人所得税却被公众认为是税收流失最严重的税种。个税流失严重不仅使财政收入损失巨大,而且还加剧了个人收入分配不公的状况。因此,进一步加强个税的管理和征收办法,加强税法宣传,提高公民自觉纳税的意识是改善我国个税流失状况的有效途径。     

经济全球化与我国的税收安全体系建设

经济全球化条件下有许多因素冲击到国家税收的安全 ,如税收国际竞争的挑战、跨国公司避税的影响、电子商务引发的税收流失、走私和骗取出口退税的侵蚀 ,等等。本文系统分析了上述这些方面 ,并且将全球化下国家税收安全体系的建设视为一项综合性的整体工程来构建 ,而不是作为一些分散的项目来实施。     

Self-employment: the role of intellectual property right laws

Little is known about the impact of intellectual property rights (IPRs) on typically imitative self-employment. IPR laws have contrasting dual innovation creation and access effects on self-employment activity. The first effect is positive where strong IPR laws promote innovation and so create new opportunities for self-employment. The second effect is negative where strong IPR laws restrict access to innovation and technology used as inputs to self-employed businesses. Using a 33-country dataset over the period 1995?C2000, we estimate the impact of IPR laws on self-employment, helping to fill the vacuum of empirical evidence that has plagued policy decision making in this area. We find that patent activity has a negative effect on self-employment. However, overall, we find that more extensive and strong IPR laws have a net positive effect on self-employment activity.     

Effects of a Tax‐Time Savings Intervention on Use of Alternative Financial Services among Lower‐Income Households

Alternative financial services (AFS) such as check cashing and payday loans may help unbanked households meet transaction and credit needs, yet often at a very high price. Saving tax refunds can help low‐ and moderate‐income (LMI) households build emergency savings as a way to reduce dependence on AFS and cope effectively with irregular cash flows and financial shocks. This study examined the impact on AFS use of message‐based interventions encouraging LMI households to save their refunds when they electronically filed their federal income tax returns. We found that 3 out of 18 interventions resulted in statistically significant reductions in credit‐related AFS use with small effect sizes. None of the interventions resulted in reduced transaction‐related AFS use. Other factors—especially prior AFS use and financial shocks—were strong predictors of AFS. Financially vulnerable households may need additional opportunities and protections to reduce dependence on AFS.