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The Choice Between Income and Consumption Taxes: A Primer

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Alan J. Auerbach

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Abstract

It has now been nearly three decades since the publication of two important volumes that laid out many of the details of how one might implement a progressive consumption tax (Institute for Fiscal Studies, 1978; U.S. Treasury, 1977). Over the years since, many contributions have analyzed the mechanics of the different variants of consumption taxation, the potential efficiency and distributional effects of their adoption, the issues of administration and transition from the current tax system, and the problems relating to certain types of transactions. But much of what we %u201Cknow%u201D is not part of the general policy discussion and there are important issues that the literature has recognized but still not resolved. The aim of this paper is to lay out the key economic issues involved in deciding whether and how to adopt a consumption tax and to discuss what theory and evidence have told us and could tell us about these issues.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 12307.

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Date of creation: Jun 2006
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12307

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H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General

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  1. Auerbach, Alan J, 1997. "The Future of Fundamental Tax Reform," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 143-46, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Kenneth L. Judd, 1997. "The Optimal Tax Rate for Capital Income is Negative," NBER Working Papers 6004, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Mikhail Golosov & Narayana Kocherlakota & Aleh Tsyvinski, 2003. "Optimal Indirect and Capital Taxation," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 70(3), pages 569-587, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Atkinson, A. B. & Stiglitz, J. E., 1976. "The design of tax structure: Direct versus indirect taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1-2), pages 55-75. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. David Bradford, 1997. "Transition to and Tax Rate Flexibility in a Cash-Flow Type Tax," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo GmbH. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Alan J. Auerbach, 1983. "Corporate Taxation in the United States," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 14(1983-2), pages 451-514. [Downloadable!]
  7. Shinichi Nishiyama and Kent Smetters, 2005. "Consumption Taxes and Economic Efficiency with Idiosyncratic Wage Shocks," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(5), pages 1088-1115, October.
  8. Chamley, Christophe, 1986. "Optimal Taxation of Capital Income in General Equilibrium with Infinite Lives," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(3), pages 607-22, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Louis Kaplow, 1995. "Taxation and Risk Taking: A General Equilibrium Perspective," NBER Working Papers 3709, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Auerbach, Alan J. & Bradford, David F., 2004. "Generalized cash-flow taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(5), pages 957-980, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. James M. Poterba, 2004. "Valuing Assets In Retirement Saving Accounts," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College 2004-11, Center for Retirement Research. [Downloadable!]
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  12. Hubbard, R Glenn, 1997. "How Different Are Income and Consumption Taxes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 138-42, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Barro, Robert J, 1974. "Are Government Bonds Net Wealth?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1095-1117, Nov.-Dec.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. B. Douglas Bernheim & Antonio Rangel, 2005. "Behavioral Public Economics: Welfare and Policy Analysis with Non-Standard Decision-Makers," NBER Working Papers 11518, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Jeremy I. Bulow & Lawrence H. Summers, 1984. "The Taxation of Risky Assets," NBER Working Papers 0897, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Gordon, Roger H, 1985. "Taxation of Corporate Capital Income: Tax Revenues versus Tax Distortions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 100(1), pages 1-27, February.
  17. Kenneth L. Judd, 1982. "Redistributive Taxation in a Simple Perfect Foresight Model," Discussion Papers 572, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science. [Downloadable!]
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Peichl, Andreas, 2008. "The Benefits of Linking CGE and Microsimulation Models: Evidence from a Flat Tax Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 3715, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Christian R. Jaramillo & Jorge Tovar, 2007. "Reflexiones sobre la teoría y la práctica del IVA en Colombia," REVISTA DE ECONOMÍA DEL ROSARIO, UNIVERSIDAD DEL ROSARIO - FACULTAD DE ECONOMÍA. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Peter Birch Sørensen, 2006. "The Theory of Optimal Taxation: What is the Policy Relevance?," EPRU Working Paper Series 06-07, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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