Title: Transition to and Tax Rate Flexibility in a Cash-Flow Type Tax
Abstract:The difficulty of making a transition from an income-type to a consumption-type tax is often cited as an obstacle to such a change in policy. Put simply, the problem is the double taxation of old savi...The difficulty of making a transition from an income-type to a consumption-type tax is often cited as an obstacle to such a change in policy. Put simply, the problem is the double taxation of old savings or old capital. A person who has accumulated wealth under an income tax will be hit with an extra tax on the consumption financed by that accumulation under a shift to a consumption tax. Such a transition effect raises issues of equity, political feasibility, and efficiency. In the typical implementation of a consumption tax, the same sorts of transition phenomena associated with a shift from an income tax follow from any change in the rate of tax. That is, introduction of a consumption tax is the same as raising the rate of consumption tax from zero to whatever positive rate is envisioned for the new system. Consequently, the problem of transition to a consumption tax generalizes to the problem of changing the rate of consumption tax. In this paper I consider the design of rules that render consumpti...Read More