IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/usg/dp2006/2006-10.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Macroeconomic effects of banking secrecy when tax evasion is endogenous

Author

Listed:
  • Frode Brevik
  • Manfred Gärtner

Abstract

We analyze a multi-country model in which a small group of countries adopts banking secrecy (BS) laws and a withholding tax. The other group doesn't. BS countries benefit in all relevant macroeconomic variables, including taxes and the provision of public goods. In non- BS countries most of the same variables deteriorate - when tax evasion is exogenous or its tax elasticity is moderate. When this elasticity is high, BS may drive these countries' tax rates down also, and income, consumption and wealth may rise. However, public-goods provision always deteriorates and welfare falls. We also argue that this case does not appear to be relevant empirically.

Suggested Citation

  • Frode Brevik & Manfred Gärtner, 2006. "Macroeconomic effects of banking secrecy when tax evasion is endogenous," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2006 2006-10, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    • Handle: RePEc:usg:dp2006:2006-10
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ux-tauri.unisg.ch/RePEc/usg/dp2006/DP10_Ga.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wolfgang Eggert & Martin Kolmar, 2004. "The Taxation of Financial Capital under Asymmetric Information and the Tax‐competition Paradox," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(1), pages 83-106, March.
    2. Ellen R. McGrattan & Edward C. Prescott, 2003. "Average Debt and Equity Returns: Puzzling?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(2), pages 392-397, May.
    3. Kollintzas, T. & Philippopoulos, A. & Vasillatos, V., 1999. "Is Tax Policy Coordination Necessary?," DEOS Working Papers 0099-08, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    4. Buiter, Willem H, 1981. "Time Preference and International Lending and Borrowing in an Overlapping-Generations Model," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(4), pages 769-797, August.
    5. Huizinga, Harry & Nicodeme, Gaetan, 2004. "Are international deposits tax-driven," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1093-1118, June.
    6. Willem Buiter, 1987. "Fiscal Policy in Open, Interdependent Economies," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Assaf Razin & Efraim Sadka (ed.), Economic Policy in Theory and Practice, chapter 3, pages 101-144, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Marchand, Maurice & Pestieau, Pierre & Sato, Motohiro, 2003. "Can partial fiscal coordination be welfare worsening?: A model of tax competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 451-458, November.
    8. Bacchetta, Philippe & Espinosa, Maria Paz, 1995. "Information sharing and tax competition among governments," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1-2), pages 103-121, August.
    9. Frode Brevik & Manfred Gärtner, 2005. "Welfare and Distribution Effects of Bank Secrecy Laws," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2005 2005-07, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    10. Dornbusch, Rudiger, 1985. "Intergenerational and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1-2), pages 123-139, February.
    11. J. A. Mirrlees, 1971. "An Exploration in the Theory of Optimum Income Taxation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 38(2), pages 175-208.
    12. Vittorio Grilli, 1989. "Financial Markets and 1992," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 20(2), pages 301-324.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Frode Brevik & Manfred Gärtner, 2005. "Welfare and Distribution Effects of Bank Secrecy Laws," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2005 2005-07, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    2. Frode Brevik & Manfred Gärtner, 2008. "Can tax evasion tame Leviathan governments?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 103-122, July.
    3. Thomas Hemmelgarn & Gaëtan Nicodème, 2009. "Tax Co-ordination in Europe: Assessing the First Years of the EU-Savings Taxation Directive," Working Papers CEB 09-023.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    4. Lars Gläser & Martin Halla, 2008. "Die EU‐Zinsenrichtlinie: Ein Schuss in den Ofen?," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 9(1), pages 83-101, February.
    5. Michael Keen & Jenny Ligthart, 2006. "Information Sharing and International Taxation: A Primer," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(1), pages 81-110, January.
    6. Marcel GERARD & Lucia GRANELLI, 2013. "From the EU Savings Directive to the US FATCA, Taxing Cross Border Savings Income," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2013007, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    7. Michael Keen & Jenny Ligthart, 2006. "Incentives and Information Exchange in International Taxation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 13(2), pages 163-180, May.
    8. Ligthart, Jenny E., 2007. "Information sharing for consumption tax purposes: An empirical analysis," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 24-42, March.
    9. Marcel Gérard, 2004. "Combining Dutch Presumptive Capital Income Tax and US Qualified Intermediaries to Set Forth a New System of International Savings Taxation," CESifo Working Paper Series 1340, CESifo.
    10. Wolfgang Eggert & Martin Kolmar, 2004. "The Taxation of Financial Capital under Asymmetric Information and the Tax‐competition Paradox," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(1), pages 83-106, March.
    11. Schwarz, Peter, 2009. "Why are countries reluctant to exchange information on interest income? Participation in and effectiveness of the EU Savings Tax Directive," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 97-105, June.
    12. Persson, Torsten & Svensson, Lars E O, 1985. "Current Account Dynamics and the Terms of Trade: Harberger-Laursen-Metzler Two Generations Later," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(1), pages 43-65, February.
    13. Frenkel, Jacob A & Razin, Assaf, 1987. "Fiscal Policies and the World Economy; An Intertemporal Approach (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1987)," MPRA Paper 20438, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Kleimeier, S. & Qi, S. & Sander, H., 2015. "Deposit insurance in times of crises : safe haven or regulatory arbitrage?," Research Memorandum 026, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    15. Shuanglin Lin, 1998. "Taxing Consumption in an Open Economy," Public Finance Review, , vol. 26(3), pages 250-269, May.
    16. Katarzyna Bilicka & Clemens Fuest, 2014. "With which countries do tax havens share information?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(2), pages 175-197, April.
    17. Vincent Bouvatier & Gunther Capelle-Blancard & Anne-Laure Delatte, 2017. "Banks Defy Gravity in Tax Havens," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-03101505, HAL.
    18. Dhillon, Amrita & Perroni, Carlo & Scharf, Kimberley A., 1999. "Implementing tax coordination," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 243-268, May.
    19. Huizinga, Harry & Nicodeme, Gaetan, 2004. "Are international deposits tax-driven," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1093-1118, June.
    20. Braun, Julia & Weichenrieder, Alfons, 2015. "Does exchange of information between tax authorities influence multinationals' use of tax havens?," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-015, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Banking secrecy; tax evasion; withholding tax; welfare effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:usg:dp2006:2006-10. 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: Joerg Baumberger (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vwasgch.html .

    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.