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Local option sales taxes and consumer spending patterns: Fiscal interdependence under multi-tiered local taxation

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  • Burge, Gregory
  • Rogers, Cynthia

Abstract

Twenty US states currently allow both county and municipal governments to impose sales taxes on purchases within their jurisdictions. This study investigates the complex multi-jurisdiction and multi-tier dimensions of local option sales taxes (LOSTs) in this setting. We estimate own-rate and cross-tier elasticities using data from 1993 to 2006 for Oklahoma municipalities and counties. Using a variety of panel data techniques including first differenced and random trends models, we show both are significant determinants of consumer spending patterns. Additionally, accounting for localized tax rate differentials reveals important nuances in the interpretation of cross-tier and own-rate elasticities. Our results suggest that municipal LOST revenues can be significantly affected by the rate setting decisions of parent counties as well as nearby regional retail centers. Therefore, the ability of municipal governments to control LOST revenues by varying their own LOST rate is affected by both vertical and horizontal fiscal spillovers. Understanding the nature of fiscal interdependence in this setting is important for the 34 US states that authorize some form of LOSTs as well as any considering their implementation.

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  • Burge, Gregory & Rogers, Cynthia, 2011. "Local option sales taxes and consumer spending patterns: Fiscal interdependence under multi-tiered local taxation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 46-58, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:41:y:2011:i:1:p:46-58
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    1. Agrawal, David R., 2014. "LOST in America: Evidence on local sales taxes from national panel data," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 147-163.
    2. Agrawal, David R. & Shybalkina, Iuliia, 2023. "Online shopping can redistribute local tax revenue from urban to rural America," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    3. Whitney B. Afonso, 2017. "State LST Laws: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Laws Governing Local Sales Taxes," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 25-46, December.
    4. Melissa Gentry & Nadia Greenhalgh-Stanley & Shawn M. Rohlin & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2020. "Dynamic Sales Tax Competition: Evidence from Panel Data at the Border," Working Papers 20-5, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    5. Wang, Lingxiao & Zheng, Yuqing, 2024. "Why are grocery foods taxed in the United States? Theory and spatial evidence from multilevel government interactions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    6. Agrawal, David R., 2016. "Local fiscal competition: An application to sales taxation with multiple federations," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 122-138.
    7. Wang, Jia, 2018. "Strategic interaction and economic development incentives policy: Evidence from U.S. States," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 249-259.
    8. David R. Agrawal & William F. Fox, 2021. "Taxing Goods and Services in a Digital Era," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 74(1), pages 257-301.
    9. Lang (Kate) Yang & Bradley T. Heim, 2017. "Responsiveness of Income to Local Income Taxes: Evidence from Indiana," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 70(2), pages 367-392, June.
    10. Burge Gregory S. & Rogers Cynthia L., 2018. "Do State Sales Taxes Crowd Out Local Option Sales Taxes?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(3), pages 1-9, July.
    11. David R. Agrawal & David E. Wildasin, 2019. "Sales Taxation, Spatial Agglomeration, and the Internet," CESifo Working Paper Series 7742, CESifo.
    12. Reingewertz, Yaniv, 2018. "Corporate taxes and vertical tax externalities: Evidence from narrative federal tax shocks," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 84-97.
    13. Spencer T. Brien & Wenli Yan, 2020. "Are Overlapping Local Governments Competing With Each Other When Issuing Debt?," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 75-92, June.
    14. Watson, Philip & Winfree, Jason & Toro-González, Daniel, . "Fiscal Impacts and Cross-Border Effects of a Change in State Liquor Policy," Journal of Food Distribution Research, Food Distribution Research Society, vol. 51(2).
    15. Bo Zhao, 2021. "Opting in with the Joneses: What Affects the Timing of Municipal Adoption of a Local-option Meals Tax?," Working Papers 21-14, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    16. Whitney Afonso, 2016. "The Equity of Local Sales Tax Distributions in Urban, Suburban, Rural, and Tourism Rich Counties in North Carolina," Public Finance Review, , vol. 44(6), pages 691-721, November.

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