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.     

Flattening the Effective Marginal Tax Rate Structure in Australia: Policy Simulations Using the Melbourne Institute Tax and Transfer Simulator

This article uses the Melbourne Institute Tax and Transfer Simulator to examine the effects of a reduction in the means‐tested benefit taper, or withdrawal, rates in Australia to 30 per cent. That is, all taper rates of 50 per cent and 70 per cent in the March 1998 benefit system are reduced to 30 per cent, while leaving all basic benefit levels unchanged. This change is therefore expected to ‘flatten’ the tax structure by reducing the high marginal tax rates applying to those with relatively low incomes and increasing the marginal tax rates of medium incomes. Simulations in which all individuals are assumed to remain at their pre‐reform labour supply levels are compared with behavioural simulations in which the majority of individuals are free to adjust the number of hours worked. The results reflect only the supply side of the labour market. The database used is the 1997‐98 Survey of Income and Housing Costs, so that weekly incomes are based on the financial year 1997‐98. The comparison shows that, for sole parents, accounting for behavioural effects of the reform results in a lower estimated expenditure for government, whereas for couples, accounting for behavioural effects results in a higher estimated expenditure.     

Asymptotic Marginal Tax Rate of Individual Income Tax in China

This paper examines the asymptotic marginal rate of individual income tax which maximizes China's social welfare through numerical simulation based on the elasticity of China's labor supply, income distribution and the social objectives of redistribution in accordance with the optimal direct taxation theory. Taking advantage of the optimal direct taxation model with consideration of the income effect, it comes to the conclusion that combined with China's reality, the asymptotic marginal rate of individual labor income tax in China should be between 35% and 40%.     

Lifetime Net Average Tax Rates in Australia Since Federation—A Generational Accounting Study

This paper presents estimates of average net payments to government, as a per cent of average lifetime labour earnings, for generations born in Australia since Federation (1901), based on historical data combined with several reasonable future scenarios covering fiscal policy, growth and demographic change. The results shed light on whether certain generations have been treated more favorably by the public sector than others this century. The main conclusion is that the average lifetime net tax rate will, under reasonable'assumptions, be of the order of 37–39 per cent for all currently living generations born since the mid-1930s.     

汇率、利率、税率：名义和实际

当前我国经济运行情况以及面临的问题 过去的一年里，我国经济保持了稳定增长的态势，在全球经济特别是关、日和欧三大经济体同时陷入衰退的情况下，2001年我国国内生产总值达到95800多亿元，同比增长率为7．3％。更令人感到鼓舞的是，中国在2001年加入WTO，正式成为世界贸易组织的一员，中国的对外开放进入了一个新的阶段。 但在成功数字的外表下，我们还应该看到中国经济的一些问题以及在2002年可能遇到或者已经遇到的一些难题。2001年中国经济增长前高后低，四个季度的经济增长一路滑坡，前3个季度的增长速度分别是8．1％、7．8％和7％，第4季度GDP增长也很难达到7％，11月份居民消费价格总水平比去年同月下降3％，又面临通货紧缩的威胁。2001年的经济增长，主要是由国内投资和消费需求的增长拉动的。由于国际经济严重衰退，一方面，我国出口增速下降，大约在6％左右，净出口减少，对经济增长的贡献度为负值；另一方面，促使外资流入加快，实际利用外资增长近20％，减弱了出口下降的影响。……     

中印两国外资居民企业有效平均税率估测及分析

中印两国的税收制度对于外资的吸引发挥着至关重要的作用.潜在投资者选择投资项目主要考虑一国的有效平均税率是否具有吸引力.文章运用已被国际学术界广泛认可的D/G模型,利用安永会计师事务所提供的有关数据,从企业和股东两个层面分别估测了中印两国外资居民企业采用不同融资方式、投资于不同资产所承担的有效平均税率,并检验了上述结果对各种假设条件的敏感性.通过较为准确而全面地估测中印两国外资居民企业的有效平均税率,文章的研究结果将更直观地反映出两国外资居民企业的平均税负水平,并有利于判断我国税制对于吸引外资的相对优劣性.     

Marginal Tax Rates and Tax‐Favoured Pension Savings of the Self‐Employed: Evidence from Sweden*

In recent years, the study of how individuals respond to policies that aim at promoting pension savings has emerged as a vital area of economic research. This paper adds to this body of literature by estimating the tax price elasticity of contributions to tax‐favoured pension‐savings accounts on a population of self‐employed individuals. I exploit a unique total database over the Swedish population that covers the years 1999–2005. Using instrumental variables, I obtain a tax price elasticity estimate of ?0.51 and an income elasticity estimate of 0.13, whereas ordinary least‐squares (OLS) produces estimates that conflict with consumer theory.     

Efficiency Effects of Inter–Government Financial Transfers in Australia

This article provides estimates of efficiency effects of changes in Commonwealth–State funding arrangements. These estimates allow for flypaper effects and interstate factor mobility, and take account of State endowment and cost differences.     

Industry‐specific Real Effective Exchange Rates and Export Price Competitiveness: The Cases of Japan,China, and Korea

This paper constructs a new dataset of the industry‐specific real effective exchange rate, based on the producer price indices, for Japan, China, and Korea on a monthly basis from January 2001 to February 2013 in order to provide a better indicator for export price competitiveness. By conducting simulation analysis, we found that Korean electrical machinery firms substantially improved their cost competitiveness by lowering their production costs during the Korean won appreciation period, while Japanese firms' large plant investment caused by management misjudgments led to excessive production capacity, which resulted in the deterioration of Japanese export competitiveness. A structural vector autoregression analysis also reveals that industry differences of cost competitiveness as well as nominal exchange rate changes have significant impact on export performances of Japan and Korea.     

The Formation of Producers' Price Expectations in Australia*

This paper investigates the formation of price expectations by Australian manufacturing firms. It is shown that the reported expectations are generally consistent with the hypothesis that they are derived as conditional forecasts from the model used by firms in determining their actual price change behaviour. Tests are then undertaken to see whether the expectations are unbiased and efficient forecasts, the cross-section results indicating generally that they are neither, and hence not rational. Alternative time-series tests of the unbiasedness and efficiency hypothesis, however, suggest that neither hypothesis can be rejected, implying rationality.     

Macroeconomic Implications of Changes in Corporate Tax Rates: A Review

Many countries have initiated structural reforms in corporate income tax (CIT) to attract investment and promote growth. There has been a continuous decline in CIT rates worldwide. It is expected that cuts in CIT rates may increase after-tax profits and encourage investment. A change in the CIT rate may also be shifted backward (by changing salaries and wages) and/or forward (by changing product prices). These are theoretical possibilities and may not have support from empirical evidence. In this paper we review empirical studies to assess the impact of CIT rate changes on the economy.     

Indirect Tax Reform in Australia: The Welfare Effects on Different Demographic Groups

The welfare effects of several indirect tax reforms in Australia are examined for a number of types of household in a range of income groups. The welfare changes, measured using equivalent variations, are based on the use of the linear expenditure system, where parameters are different in each of the income groups. The effects of the current system and of several reforms are found to differ significantly among the household types. However, the results suggest that the extent of vertical redistribution involved in the current indirect tax structure, and possible reforms to it, are small. The role of exemptions are examined in the case of food, for which the budget shares are systematically higher in lower income households, and health services. In view of the strong assumptions used at each stage, the results must be regarded as tentative.     

国际税制改革:公司所得税税率下降趋势及其一体化进程--兼论税率一体化进程对跨国公司资本汇回决策的影响

20世纪80年代以来,各国公司所得税税率呈下降趋势,而且其差异性在减小。税率一体化进程使资本汇回居住国或其他国家、或者在东道国再投资的税收成本差异变小,这样,跨国公司在资本汇回方面的选择空间更加广阔。在各国公司所得税税率一体化进程中,区域经济一体化有相当的促进作用,但政治现实对税率一体化进程有很大的负面影响。从全球范围来看,经济的全球化,使各国税收政策的联系更加紧密,税率也逐步趋于一致。我国1994年税制改革后的企业所得税税率适应了税率一体化进程,但是随着各国公司所得税降税浪潮,我国33％的税率正面临较大的下调压力。     

Decomposing Redistributive Effects of Taxes and Transfers in Australia: Annual and Lifetime Measures

This paper decomposes the redistributive effect on annual and lifetime inquality of a range of taxes and transfers in Australia, using a dynamic cohort lifetime simulation model. The redistributive effect is decomposed into vertical, horizontal and reranking effects. Horizontal inequities in the tax and transfer system are found to be negligible. The extent of reranking is greater in the lifetime than in the annual context and is affected by the equivalence scales used to adjust household incomes. If no adjustment is made to household incomes, reranking is about nine per cent of the reduction in lifetime inequality. However, if each child is counted as equivalent to one-third of an adult, reranking is found to be less than one per cent.     

The Employment Effects of Gender Discrimination in Australia 1994–95

Interpreting the unexplained component of the gender wage gap as indicative of discrimination, the empirical literature to date has tended to ignore the potential impact wage discrimination may have on employment. Clearly, employment effects will arise if discrimination lowers the female offered wage and the labour supply curve is upward sloping. The empirical analysis employs the ABS Income Distribution Survey 1994–95 and finds evidence of both wage and associated employment effects. The analysis is replicated for the earlier period 1989–90. A comparison across time is of interest given the substantial deregulation of the Australian labour market over the period.     

我国房地产税的税率设计与社会福利效应

本文使用CHFS(2015)数据,基于量能负担原则对我国房地产税进行税率设计,并基于房地产税税率设计测算房地产税额在不同居民家庭收入分组之间的税负分布结构以及社会福利效应.结果发现,在全国样本下,房地产税的税率区间为[0.26％,0.66％],开征房地产税虽然具有一定的累进倾向,但是居民家庭的税后社会福利水平明显低于税前社会福利水平,且随着房地产税税率的提高,居民家庭的社会福利损失越大.在地区样本处理下,房地产税的税率区间具有明显的地区差异性特征,且相较于全国样本和地区样本,采用省、自治区、直辖市(以下简称省份)样本设计房地产税税率所产生的居民家庭社会福利损失最小.基于上述结论,本文建议房地产税税率设计不宜过高,且实行地区差别比例税率设计方案,可以有效降低房地产税给居民家庭带来的社会福利损失,以更好体现房地产税税率设计的客观性和科学性.