taxation concepts and principles
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TAXATION CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
TAX: DEFINITION
A compulsory contribution from the person to the government to defray the expenses incurred in the common interest of all without reference to special benefits conferred upon taxpayer
Free rider problem Can be considered as a monetized
service to the government
TAXATION: PURPOSES
To finance the government’s public expenditures
Serves as a fiscal instrument to promote the goals of developing countries
TAXES: CLASSIFICATION
As to Purpose – fiscal or regulatory As to Incidence – direct or indirect As to Rate – proportional, progressive or
regressive As to Authority – national or local As to Object – income tax, property tax, excise
tax As to Scope – general or specific (e.g. Special
Education Fund) As to Amount Paid – specific or ad valorem
Principles of a Good Tax System Economic efficiency Administrative simplicity Flexibility Fairness Political responsibility
ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY
Taxes should enhance economic and social efficiency
Market failures Externalities (positive and
negative) Announcement effects
E.g. on real property
DISTORTIONARY TAX
An individual can change his tax liability by simply changing his consumption of a particular good or service
NONDISTORTIONARY TAX
If and only if, there is nothing an individual can do to alter tax liability
CORRECTIVE TAX
Raises the revenue and improves the efficiency of resource allocation
Point to ponder: “Why should society tax productive (“good”) economic activities, like savings and hard work, rather than bad economic activities, like pollution?
ADMINISTRATIVE SIMPLICITY
The tax system should have low costs of administrative compliance.
It ought to be easy and relatively inexpensive to administer
Direct cost: cost of running tax collection agencies
Indirect cost: cost to taxpayers
The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance.
FLEXIBILITY
The tax system should allow easy (even automatic) adaptation to changed circumstances
Progressive tax (automatic stabilization)
Ad valorem vs. specific tax Political difficulties of adjusting tax
rates
The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance. The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance. The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance.
FAIRNESS
A good tax system should distribute the tax burden across taxpayers in a manner that is consistent with accepted norms of fairness and equity.
It ought to be fair in its relative treatment of different individuals
The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance. The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance. The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance.
FAIRNESS
There are two different ways to view fairness, but both are based on tax incidence.
The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance. The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance. The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance. The tax System should have low costs of administrative compliance.
TAX INCIDENCE
refers to who actually pays the tax Many taxes are paid by one person (gasoline
distributor, landlord, corporation), who has the ability to look to others for reimbursement (consumer of gasoline, renter, consumer).
Tax fairness is judged by a tax’s incidence, rather than who pays the tax.
FAIRNESS
Fairness in the burden of the tax according to one’s ability to pay.
A fair tax is one that is levied according to one’s ability to pay the tax.
TAX TYPES
FLAT TAX A commonly-held principle is that one’s tax
burdens should rise at the same rate as one’s ability to pay
PROGRESSIVE TAX : it should rise at a faster rate
REGRESSIVE TAXES Tax rate falls despite greater ability to pay
FAIRNESS
Fairness in the burden of tax according to benefits received.
A second way fairness may be evaluated is with reference to who benefits from government activities.
POLITICAL RESPONSIBILITY
People should know how much they and others pay Thus, a good tax system is one where the
tax incidence is clear, or transparent.
Transparency is important in a tax system It should improve the democratic
process surrounding taxes
References:
Joseph E. Stiglitz, Economics of the Public Sector, Third Edition (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2000), Chapter 17 “Introduction to Taxation.”
Leonor M. Briones, Philippine Public Fiscal Administration, vol. 1, Manila: FAFI, 1996. Chapters 6-7.
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