《所得税改革的发展和收入的影响》英文文献及译文Word文件下载.docx
- 文档编号:17038141
- 上传时间:2022-11-28
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:11
- 大小:30.45KB
《所得税改革的发展和收入的影响》英文文献及译文Word文件下载.docx
《《所得税改革的发展和收入的影响》英文文献及译文Word文件下载.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《《所得税改革的发展和收入的影响》英文文献及译文Word文件下载.docx(11页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
PersonalIncomeTaxation:
FromTheorytoPolicy
JohnCreedy
DepartmentofEconomics,TheUniversityofMelbourne
1.Introduction
Thisarticleconsiderstherelationshipbetweeneconomictheoryandpersonalincometaxpolicy.Itconcentratesonthewelfareanalysisofpersonalincometaxesandtransfers—whichtogetherdeterminetherelationshipbetweengrossandnetincomes—andtheresultingadvicewhichmaybeofferedtopolicy-makers.TheimportanceofthissubstantialcomponentofthetaxstructurehasbeenstressedbyKenHenry,whoistheChairoftheReviewPaneloftheAustralianTreasury,whichisconductinganextensivereviewcalledAustralia’sFutureTaxSystem.Hestatedthat,‘thetax-transfersystemisafundamentalpartofAustralia’ssocialandeconomicinfrastructure.Ithasbeen,andwillcontinuetobe,shapedbythechoicesthatAustraliansmakeaboutthetypeofsocietyinwhichtheychoosetolive.ItcanhaveaprofoundinfluenceontheopportunitiesavailabletoAustralians’.1Thepersonaltax-and-transfersystemisalsosubjecttoanextensivereviewinNewZealandbytheTaxWorkingGroup,undertheaegisoftheVictoriaUniversityofWellington.AnextensivereviewoftheUKtaxstructure,calledReformingtheTaxSystemforthe21stCentury,hasalsorecentlybeencarriedoutundertheaegisoftheInstituteforFiscalStudies.
Itisinevitablethateconomictheoryalonemustbelimitedintermsofpracticaldetail.Valuejudgementareinvolvedindecisionmakingbecausevirtuallyeverytax-andtransfersystemhasdistributionalimplications.Manyinterdependenciesareinvolvedsincetaxesaffectawiderangeofeconomicbehaviourandeveryoneisaffectedbythem.However,economicanalysescanprovidevaluableinsightsintothenatureofthoseinterdependenciesandcanhighlightpotentialunintendedconsequencesorcomplicationsarisingfromtaxchanges.
Afurtherdifficultyinlinkingtheoryandpolicyisthatthepossibleeffectsoftaxesareoftenexpressedintermsofmeasuresforwhichitisextremelydifficulttoobtainempiricalcounterparts.Insofarastaxmodelsprovidepolicyadvice,itisoftenexpressedinbroadtermsandisofanegativenature.However,inplanningtaxpolicy,itisextremelyimportanttounderstandwhyclearresultsmaynotbeachievedorwhyintuitivelyappealingresultsmaynotbereliable.AsEdgeworth(1925,ii,p.261)suggestedwhendiscussingincometaxationandtheconceptofminimumsacrifice:
Yetthepremises,howeverinadequatetothedeductionofadefiniteformula,maysufficeforacertainnegativeconclusion.Thegroundwhichwillnotserveasthefoundationoftheelaborateedificedesignedmayyetbesolidenoughtosupportabattering-ramcapableofbeingdirectedagainstsimpleredificesintheneighbourhood.
Section2brieflydiscussesdifferentapproachestotheevaluationoftaxes,placingthemodernwelfareanalysisoftaxationinhistoricalperspective.Section3turnstotheroleofsimple‘rulesofthumb’inpolicyadvice,inparticulartheruleconcerningabroadbaseandalowrate.Section4thenconsidersthesimplestpossibletax-and-transfersystem,thelinearincometax,asawayofillustratingwhyoptimaltaxmodelsquicklybecomeintractable.Insightsregardingthetax-rateschedulefromoptimaltaxmodellingarethendiscussedbrieflyinSection5.BriefconclusionsaredrawninSection6.
2.ModernTheoryinPerspective
Ifaskedforpracticaladviceabouttaxation,economistsformanyyearswouldhavereferredtothefamousfourmaximsofAdamSmith(1776):
contributionaccordingtoabilitytopay;
4certainty;
convenience;
and‘efficiency’(includingadministrativecosts,distortionstoactivityandthe‘vexationandoppression’involved).Whilethelistofcriteriawasextendedandclarified,5inthediscussionofabilitytopaytherewasnoacceptanceofaredistributiverole.6Theappropriatetaxratewasthusdeterminedbytheindependentlygivenrevenuerequirement.7Anexplicitpreferenceforequalityoftreatmentviaproportionaltaxationwasmademostclearinthefollowingoften-quotedremarkmadein1845byMcCulloch,theauthorofthemostextensiveandsystematictreatmentofpublicfinanceintheclassicalliterature:
Themomentyouabandonthecardinalprincipleofexactingfromallindividualsthesameproportionoftheirincomeoroftheirproperty,youareatseawithoutrudderorcompass,andthereisnoamountofinjusticeandfollyyoumaynotcommit.[McCulloch1975,p.147]
Themainchangeintheapproachtotaxationcamefromthelaterintegrationofpublicfinanceintothegeneralareaofwelfareeconomics,whichwasitselfamajorconcomitantofthesuccessfulintroductionofautility-maximisingapproachtoexchangeinthe1870s.However,themostsystematicearlydevelopmentscamefromCohen-Stuartin1889(Cohen-Stuart1958)andEdgeworth(1897)ininvestigatingthebroadimplicationsforprogressivityoftheminimisationoftotaldisutilityfromtaxation—ignoringanypossiblebenefits.Withthecriterionofminimisingtotalsacrifice,progressionarisesfromdecreasingmarginalutility,butwithequalabsolutesacrifice,itdependsontheprecisebehaviourofthemarginalutilityofincome.Evenhere,therewasnoexplicitindependentroleforredistribution:
themaximandwasstrictlyconsideredtobetotalutility.
Thismovementreacheditsultimateconclusioninthe‘optimaltax’literature,beginningvirtuallyacenturyaftertheinitialintroductionofautilityanalysisintoeconomics.ThemathematicalanalysesofEdgeworthwereextendedbyallowing,inparticular,forlaboursupplyincentiveeffectsoftaxesandtransfers,andincludingarangeofspecificationsoftheobjectivesoftaxation,thusintroducingandistributiverole.Inthisfinaldevelopment,mostoftheimportantcriteriasuggestedbySmithandotherswereignored.Therelevantbranchofwelfareeconomicsintowhichoptimaltaxtheoryfallsisthetheoryofthe‘secondbest’,inviewofthefactthatthegovernmentisunabletotaxindividuals’endowmentsofabilityandinsteadtaxestheirincomes.Sometimes,stressisplacedonasymmetricinformationaspects,inthatthegovernmentcannotobserveabilitylevels.
Indrawingonthisbranchofmoderneconomictheorytoprovidepolicyadviceregardingtaxstructures,anumberofseriousdifficultiesimmediatelyarise.Taxmodelshaveawayofgettingverycomplicatedveryquickly.Manyinterdependenciesareusuallyinvolvedandclearviewscanonlybeobtainedbyabstractingfrommanyrealisticfeatures.Indeed,manyofthestrongresultsfromtaxanalyses(forexample,certainequivalenceresultsconcerninguniformdirectandindirecttaxesingeneralequilibriummodels)arebestinterpretedasdemonstratingthatinfacttheyaremostunlikelytoapplyinpractice.Themorerealisticthemodel,themoreithastoberestrictedtohighlyspecificquestions.
Thetheoryofoptimalincometaxationprovidesaninterestingcasestudy.Analysesinthistraditionhavegeneratedvaluableinsightsintothehighlycomplexrelationshipsinvolved.Theyhaveclarifiedwhatearlyinvestigatorsreferredtoas‘thegrammarofarguments’andtherewasnopretencethattheyweredesignedasguidanceforpracticalpolicyadvice.Theresultsarelargelyofanegativenature.Nevertheless,itispossiblethatthesubstantialchangesinthepersonalincometaxstructuresofmanycountriesoverthelast30yearshavebeeninfluencedbytheoptimaltaxliterature.Theseinclude,inparticular,reductionsinthenumberofmarginaltaxratesandthedegreeofrateprogression.Caremustbetakeninmakingsuchstatements.Establishingaclearrationaleforeachpolicyactionis,ofcourse,farfromstraightforwardandthesocialwelfarefunctionswhichplayafundamentalroleinoptimaltaxtheoryseldomrepresentthevariedobjectivesofpoliticians.
3.ARuleofThumb
Therearesomebasicprincipleswhichareworthkeepinginmindinthinkingabouttaxstructures.Theseincludepointssuchthat:
thereisadifferencebetweenlegalandeconomicincidence;
taxescanbeshiftedinvariousways,includingtaxcapitalisation;
largeefficiencycostscanariseevenwhentaxesappeartohavelittleeffectonbehaviour;
andincentivesmatter.Thislistcouldeasilybeextended,butstilldoesnotprovidestrongpositiveadvice.However,manyeconomiststakeasastartingpointthebasicprinciplethatthebesttaxesarethosehavingabroadbaseandlowtaxrate.Asasimple‘ruleofthumb’,thisisnotastatementderivedfromasetoffundamentaloruniversalprinciples,oraxioms.Itismeantonlyasaguidingaim.Departuresfromtherulerequireaspecialcasetobemade.Abroadbase,whichisobtainedbyallowingfewexemptionsanddeductions,isofcourserequiredinordertoachievealowtaxrateforagivenrevenueobjective.Inturn,theneedforlowratesisgenerallyseenintermsoftheefficiencycostsoftaxation,viewedintermsoftheexcessburdencreatedbythetaxdistortiontobehaviour:
thismeasurestheexcessofthewelfarecostarisingfromthetaxovertherevenueraised.Appealismadetothelong-establishedresultthattheexcessburdenofataxisapproximatelyproportionaltothesquareofthetaxrate.13Particularpoliciesthenrequireatrade-offtobemadeintermsofabalanceoftheperceivedbenefitsoftheproposedpolicyagainsttheestimatedefficiencycosts.Itisnecessarytomakeexplicitthevaluejudgementsinvolvedandthenatureofthetrade-offbetweengainsandlosses.
Fewcountriesscorewellwhenapplyingthebasic‘broadbase–lowrate’ruleofthumb.Forexample,indirecttaxstructuresoftenhaveanumberofexemptionsandmore
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- 所得税改革的发展和收入的影响 所得税 改革 发展 收入 影响 英文 文献 译文