IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/soecon/v78y2011i2p358-381.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Distributional Analysis of the FairTax Plan: Annual and Lifetime Income Considerations

Author

Listed:
  • Yingxu Kuang
  • Ted Englebrecht
  • Otis W. Gilley

Abstract

Dissatisfaction with the current federal tax system is fostering serious interest in the FairTax Plan, which would replace most of the federal taxes with a national retail sales tax. The FairTax is promoted as being progressive, but there is considerable skepticism of this claim. We examine the distributional effects of the FairTax, as well as the current system it intends to replace, under both annual income and lifetime income approaches. Global measures of progressivity suggest that the current federal tax system is progressive while the FairTax is regressive. Our results are also robust to different assumptions used for estimation.

Suggested Citation

  • Yingxu Kuang & Ted Englebrecht & Otis W. Gilley, 2011. "A Distributional Analysis of the FairTax Plan: Annual and Lifetime Income Considerations," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 78(2), pages 358-381, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:78:y:2011:i:2:p:358-381
    DOI: 10.4284/0038-4038-78.2.358
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.4284/0038-4038-78.2.358
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4284/0038-4038-78.2.358?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Poterba, James M, 1989. "Lifetime Incidence and the Distributional Burden of Excise Taxes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(2), pages 325-330, May.
    2. Primiceri, Giorgio E. & van Rens, Thijs, 2009. "Heterogeneous life-cycle profiles, income risk and consumption inequality," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 20-39, January.
    3. Slemrod, Joel, 2006. "The Role of Misconceptions in Support for Regressive Tax Reform," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 59(1), pages 57-75, March.
    4. Paul Bachman & Jonathan Haughton & Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Alfonso Sanchez-Penalver & David G. Tuerck, 2006. "Taxing Sales Under the FairTax: What Rate Works?," NBER Working Papers 12732, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2007. "How Progressive is the U.S. Federal Tax System? A Historical and International Perspective," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    6. John Creedy, 1999. "Taxation, Redistribution and Progressivity: An Introduction," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 32(4), pages 410-422, December.
    7. Kakwani, Nanok C, 1977. "Measurement of Tax Progressivity: An International Comparison," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 87(345), pages 71-80, March.
    8. Jokisch, Sabine & Kotlikoff, Laurence J., 2007. "Simulating the Dynamic Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Effects of the FairTax," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 60(2), pages 225-252, June.
    9. Gervais, Martin & Klein, Paul, 2010. "Measuring consumption smoothing in CEX data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(8), pages 988-999, November.
    10. Feldstein, Martin, 1988. "Imputing Corporate Tax Liabilities to Individual Taxpayers," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 41(1), pages 37-59, March.
    11. Metcalf, Gilbert E., 1999. "A Distributional Analysis of Green Tax Reforms," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(4), pages 655-682, December.
    12. Daniel R. Feenberg & Andrew W. Mitrusi & James M. Poterba, 1997. "Distributional Effects of Adopting a National Retail Sales Tax," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 11, pages 49-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Caspersen, Erik & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 1994. "Is a Value Added Tax Regressive? Annual Versus Lifetime Incidence Measures," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(4), pages 731-746, December.
    14. Feldstein, Martin, 1988. "Imputing Corporate Tax Liabilities to Individual Taxpayers," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 41(1), pages 37-59, March.
    15. Smart, Michael & Bird, Richard M., 2009. "The Impact on Investment of Replacing a Retail Sales Tax With a Value-Added Tax: Evidence From Canadian Experience," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 62(4), pages 591-609, December.
    16. Michael Smart & Richard M. Bird, 2009. "The Economic Incidence of Replacing a Retail Sales Tax with a Value-Added Tax: Evidence from Canadian Experience," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 35(1), pages 85-97, March.
    17. Dirk Krueger & Fabrizio Perri, 2006. "Does Income Inequality Lead to Consumption Inequality? Evidence and Theory -super-1," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(1), pages 163-193.
    18. Iyer, Govind S. & Seetharaman, Ananth & Englebrecht, Ted D., 1996. "An analysis of the distributional effects of replacing the progressive income tax with a flat tax," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 83-110.
    19. Suits, Daniel B, 1977. "Measurement of Tax Progressivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(4), pages 747-752, September.
    20. William C. Randolph, 2006. "International Burdens of the Corporate Income Tax: Working Paper 2006-09," Working Papers 18067, Congressional Budget Office.
    21. Julia Lynn Coronado & Don Fullerton & Thomas Glass, 1999. "Distributional Impacts of Proposed Changes to the Social Security System," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 13, pages 149-186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Metcalf, Gilbert E., 1999. "A Distributional Analysis of Green Tax Reforms," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 4), pages 655-82, December.
    23. Sabine Jokisch & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 2007. "Simulating the Dynamic Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Effects of the FairTax1," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2007-026, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    24. John Fitzgerald & Tim Maloney, 1990. "The Impact of Federal Income Taxes and Cash Transfers On the Distribution of Lifetime Household Income, 1969-1981," Public Finance Review, , vol. 18(2), pages 182-197, April.
    25. Brian Bucks & Arthur B. Kennickell & Kevin B. Moore, 2006. "Recent changes in U.S. family finances: evidence from the 2001 and 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 92(Mar), pages 1-38, March.
    26. Garber, Harry D., 1988. "The Role of Consumption Taxes in Tax Reform Around the World," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 41(3), pages 357-64, September.
    27. Nicholas S. Souleles, 1999. "The Response of Household Consumption to Income Tax Refunds," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(4), pages 947-958, September.
    28. Davies, James B & St-Hilaire, France & Whalley, John, 1984. "Some Calculations of Lifetime Tax Incidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(4), pages 633-649, September.
    29. Garber, Harry D., 1988. "The Role of Consumption Taxes in Tax Reform Around the World," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 41(3), pages 357-364, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. William Gale & Kyle Pomerleau, 2023. "Consumption Taxes: The Good, The Bad, And The Unworkable," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 846-852, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fullerton, Don & Metcalf, Gilbert E., 2002. "Tax incidence," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 26, pages 1787-1872, Elsevier.
    2. Parry, Ian & Walls, Margaret & Sigman, Hilary & Williams III, Roberton, 2005. "The Incidence of Pollution Control Policies," RFF Working Paper Series dp-05-24, Resources for the Future.
    3. Daniel R. Feenberg & Andrew W. Mitrusi & James M. Poterba, 1997. "Distributional Effects of Adopting a National Retail Sales Tax," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 11, pages 49-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Parry, Ian W. H., 2004. "Are emissions permits regressive?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 364-387, March.
    5. Hammar, Henrik & Jagers, Sverker C., 2007. "What is a fair CO2 tax increase? On fair emission reductions in the transport sector," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 377-387, March.
    6. John Bishop & K. Chow & John Formby & Chih-Chin Ho, 1997. "Did Tax Reform Reduce Actual US Progressivity? Evidence from the Taxpayer Compliance Measurement Program," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 4(2), pages 177-197, May.
    7. Rausch, Sebastian & Metcalf, Gilbert E. & Reilly, John M., 2011. "Distributional impacts of carbon pricing: A general equilibrium approach with micro-data for households," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(S1), pages 20-33.
    8. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 2009. "Market-Based Policy Options to Control U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 5-27, Spring.
    9. Sara Torregrosa Hetland, 2015. "Did democracy bring redistribution? Insights from the Spanish tax system, 1960–90," European Review of Economic History, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 294-315.
    10. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 1998. "A Distributional Analysis of an Environmental Tax Shift," Discussion Papers Series, Department of Economics, Tufts University 9801, Department of Economics, Tufts University.
    11. Fouquet, Roger & O'Garra, Tanya, 2022. "In pursuit of progressive and effective climate policies: Comparing an air travel carbon tax and a frequent flyer levy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    12. Peter Levell & Barra Roantree & Jonathan Shaw, 2021. "Mobility and the lifetime distributional impact of tax and transfer reforms," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(4), pages 751-793, August.
    13. Rausch Sebastian & Metcalf Gilbert E. & Reilly John M & Paltsev Sergey, 2010. "Distributional Implications of Alternative U.S. Greenhouse Gas Control Measures," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(2), pages 1-46, July.
    14. Sara Torregrosa Hetland, 2014. "A fiscal revolution? Progressivity in the Spanish tax system, 1960-1990," Working Papers 2014/8, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    15. Feindt, Simon & Kornek, Ulrike & Labeaga, José M. & Sterner, Thomas & Ward, Hauke, 2021. "Understanding regressivity: Challenges and opportunities of European carbon pricing," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    16. Mathur, Aparna & Morris, Adele C., 2014. "Distributional effects of a carbon tax in broader U.S. fiscal reform," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 326-334.
    17. Burtraw, Dallas & Sweeney, Richard & Walls, Margaret, 2008. "The Incidence of U.S. Climate Policy: Where You Stand Depends on Where You Sit," RFF Working Paper Series dp-08-28, Resources for the Future.
    18. Schmitz, Christoph & Biewald, Anne & Lotze-Campen, Hermann & Popp, Alexander, 2011. "Increased Agricultural Trade and its Impacts on Food System, Land-use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions," Conference papers 332165, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    19. Sterner, Thomas, 2012. "Distributional effects of taxing transport fuel," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 75-83.
    20. Julie Anne Cronin & Don Fullerton & Steven Sexton, 2019. "Vertical and Horizontal Redistributions from a Carbon Tax and Rebate," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 6(S1), pages 169-208.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:78:y:2011:i:2:p:358-381. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)2325-8012 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.