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How distortive are turnover taxes? Evidence from China

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  • Xing, Jing
  • Bilicka, Katarzyna
  • Hou, Xipei
  • Raei, Sepideh

Abstract

We investigate the impact of tax cascading on upstream and downstream firms. As a natural experiment, we explore a reform that replaced turnover taxes with value-added taxes for service industries in China, which effectively removed tax cascading. We find a relative increase in sales, R&D investment, and employment for affected service firms. These changes are mainly driven by increased outsourcing from manufacturing firms, and are unlikely to be caused by changes in firms’ tax burden or output prices. Our study provides new evidence on how taxation affects supplier networks and firm performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Xing, Jing & Bilicka, Katarzyna & Hou, Xipei & Raei, Sepideh, 2024. "How distortive are turnover taxes? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:171:y:2024:i:c:s0304387824000816
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103332
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Turnover tax; Value-added tax; Outsourcing; R&D investment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • D25 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice: Investment, Capacity, and Financing

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