ERN: TaxationPub Date : 2006-12-01DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1852224
Marisol Rodríguez, A. Stoyanova
{"title":"Changes in the Demand for Private Medical Insurance Following a Shift in Tax Incentives","authors":"Marisol Rodríguez, A. Stoyanova","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1852224","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1852224","url":null,"abstract":"The 1998 Spanish reform of the Personal Income Tax eliminated the 15% deduction for private medical expenditures including payments on private health insurance (PHI) policies. To avoid an undesirable increase in the demand for publicly funded health care, tax incentives to buy PHI were not completely removed but basically shifted from individual to group employer-paid policies. In a unique fiscal experiment, at the same time that the tax relief for individually purchased policies was abolished, the government provided for tax allowances on policies taken out through employment. Using a bivariate probit model on data from National Health Surveys, we estimate the impact of said reform on the demand for PHI and the changes occurred within it. Our findings suggest that the total probability of buying PHI was not significantly affected. Indeed, the fall in the demand for individual policies (by 10% between 1997 and 2001) was offset by an increase in the demand for group employer-paid ones, so that the overall size of the market remained virtually unchanged. We also briefly discuss the welfare effects on the state budget, the industry and society at large.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128901726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 2006-10-01DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1852258
Laura Fernández-Villadangos
{"title":"Are Two-Part Tariffs Efficient When Consumers Plan Ahead?: An Empirical Study","authors":"Laura Fernández-Villadangos","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1852258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1852258","url":null,"abstract":"During the last two decades there has been an increase in using dynamic tariffs for billing household electricity consumption. This has questioned the suitability of traditional pricing schemes, such as two-part tariffs, since they contribute to create marked peak and offpeak demands. The aim of this paper is to assess if two-part tariffs are an efficient pricing scheme using Spanish household electricity microdata. An ordered probit model with instrumental variables on the determinants of power level choice and non-paramentric spline regressions on the electricity price distribution will allow us to distinguish between the tariff structure choice and the simultaneous demand decisions. We conclude that electricity consumption and dwellings’ and individuals’ characteristics are key determinants of the fixed charge paid by Spanish households Finally, the results point to the inefficiency of the two-part tariff as those consumers who consume more electricity pay a lower price than the others.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124420313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 2006-09-01DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1047661
S. Schanz
{"title":"Methods of interpolations illustrated on the interpolation of the German income tax tariff","authors":"S. Schanz","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.1047661","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1047661","url":null,"abstract":"Increasing complexity of economic models evolve optimization problems that are not differentiable any more. To solve that problems heuristic optimization or approximation methods have to be used. In this article three methods of polynomial interpolations are summarized and explained. The three methods are in detail the Lagrange interpolation method, the Newton interpolation method and the interpolation using the monomial basis. The advantages and disadvantages of approximation methods such as the polynomial interpolation are illustrated by approximating the German income tariff function.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"73 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2006-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114284075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 2005-11-01DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.905806
D. Schanz, R. Niemann
{"title":"Can the Abolishment of the Austrian Local Business Tax Serve as a Model for Reforming the German Municipal Taxes? (Die Abschaffung Der Österreichischen Gewerbesteuer Als Vorbild Für Eine Reform Der Kommunalen Steuern in Deutschland?)","authors":"D. Schanz, R. Niemann","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.905806","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.905806","url":null,"abstract":"For decades, the German local business tax has been criticised by both economists and politicians. But none of the reform proposals has been realised until now. In this paper we analyse the existing local business tax as well as the most popular reform proposals. They include taxes on value added and a local surcharge on the personal income tax and corporate income tax. Our analysis is based on the economic criteria decision neutrality and tax planning and compliance costs. In the second section we analyse the Austrian local business tax which has been abolished successfully in 1993 and has been replaced by a payroll tax. We show that the employment has not decreased due to the payroll tax. The municipal tax revenue has developed more constant compared to the one of the local business tax. Overall, we find a number of arguments in favour of a payroll tax as in Austria, or even better, a surcharge on personal and corporate income taxes, for financing municipalities in Germany.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"44 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126843905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 2005-10-01DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.830784
Alexandre Ziegler, François-Xavier Delaloye, Michel A. Habib
{"title":"Negotiating Over Banking Secrecy: The Case of Switzerland and the European Union","authors":"Alexandre Ziegler, François-Xavier Delaloye, Michel A. Habib","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.830784","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.830784","url":null,"abstract":"Over the period 2002 to 2003,Switzerland and the European Union (EU) were engaged in negotiations regarding banking secrecy. The EU's stated goal was for Switzerland to abolish banking secrecy. Switzerland refused and offered to impose a withholding tax on interest income instead. The two parties eventually agreed on the latter solution. We examine the effect of these negotiations on the share prices of four Swiss banks: UBS, Credit Suisse Group (CSG), Julius Baer (Baer), and Vontobel. Overall, investors believe that bank profitability will not be impacted by the imposition of the withholding tax. The event-by-event response of the share prices differs across banks. Whereas the two universal banks (UBS and CSG) primarily react to the threat of sanctions on their EU-based operations, the private banks (Baer and Vontobel) react strongly to events suggesting that banking secrecy might be abolished.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"42 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122735305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 2004-05-01DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3181151
M. Peter van der Hoek
{"title":"The European Union: Eastern Enlargement and Taxation","authors":"M. Peter van der Hoek","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3181151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3181151","url":null,"abstract":"The European Union has not defined its limits in geographical terms. Each enlargement has led and will lead to a decrease of the European Union’s per capita GDP. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the transition countries went through a long and deep recession. However, they have reached a stage of positive growth and their tax levels are approaching the lower limit of the range of tax/GDP ratios in European Union countries. Differences exist in tax capacity and tax effort. In some countries greater efforts are possible to improve tax revenues. Further examination of the timing of tax administration reform may shed light on tax effort in transition countries. The paper also suggests the existence of a negative relationship between tax effort and corruption.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2004-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"117073552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 2002-12-01DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.367464
Andrea Gebauer, C. Nam, R. Parsche
{"title":"Lessons of the 1999 Abolition of Intra-Eu Duty Free Sales for Eastern European EU Candidates","authors":"Andrea Gebauer, C. Nam, R. Parsche","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.367464","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.367464","url":null,"abstract":"At the end of June 1999 the intra-EU duty free shopping was abolished among the fifteen member nations. The opponents of this resolution argued that such a tax-free sales sector created jobs EU-wide and hardly reduced the value added and excise tax revenue of individual countries. In their opinion, duty free trade not only contributed to the reduction of travel fare within the EU but could also be characterised as a supplement to the normal retail trade for some products. Such ‘old’ ideas are increasingly popular in some Eastern European EU candidates where they are preparing for the introduction of the Single Market and EU membership in the near future. This study primarily shows that the arguments mentioned above were neither significant enough nor conclusive to maintain the intra-EU duty free shopping. Furthermore, the abolition of such tax free sales was approved in the EU in order to ensure the allocation efficiency of the VAT and excise tax system within a single market. Several arguments against the intra-EU tax free shop-ping examined in the study provide some helpful policy orientations for EU membership candidates.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"125 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2002-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123716982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 2000-01-20DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2109496
G. Hebbink
{"title":"Generational Accounting with Feedback Effects on Productivity Growth","authors":"G. Hebbink","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2109496","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2109496","url":null,"abstract":"Gerbert Hebbink estimates generational accounts for the Netherlands. He presents a baseline scenario according to the standard generational accounting approach, in which constant productivity growth is assumed in the future. Forecasts for the traditional deficit and debt measures computed with the generational accounting model are also provided. The deficit would gradually increase. The debt would first decline and then substantially increase. Hebbink departs from the standard approach by introducing a link between the share of public investment in GDP and productivity growth: a policy that shifts expenditure from transfers to investment would increase productivity growth and reduce intergenerational imbalances. However, the link does not significantly affect the results: even doubling the ratio of public investment to GDP would not be sufficient to make fiscal policy sustainable.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2000-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114771699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 1995-07-01DOI: 10.3386/W5189
A. Auerbach, K. Hassett, Jan Sodersten
{"title":"Taxation and Corporate Investment: The Impact of the 1991 Swedish Tax Reform","authors":"A. Auerbach, K. Hassett, Jan Sodersten","doi":"10.3386/W5189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/W5189","url":null,"abstract":"In 1990, the government of Sweden introduced a major tax reform to take effect in 1991. The Swedish system prior to the legislation was so complex that the size and magnitude of the likely effects of the reform on incentives to invest were unknown. In this paper, we draw on Sodersten (1989) and Auerbach and Hassett (1992) and derive an expression for the user cost of capital that captures the essential features of the Swedish tax code both before and after the reform. We estimate the model for investment in equipment and find that the responsiveness of Swedish firms to the user cost is quite similar to that found for the U.S. Finally, we employ our model and estimates to assess the effects of the 1991 reform. We find that the impact of the reform on investment is likely to have been minor and had little to do with the contemporaneous sharp drop in investment.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1995-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116643193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ERN: TaxationPub Date : 1993-10-01DOI: 10.3386/W4498
Timothy J. Besley, I. Preston, M. Ridge
{"title":"Fiscal Anarchy in the U.K.: Modelling Poll Tax Noncompliance","authors":"Timothy J. Besley, I. Preston, M. Ridge","doi":"10.3386/W4498","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3386/W4498","url":null,"abstract":"The U.K.'s experience with the poll tax reminds us that even in an economy with a relatively well developed detection and legal system, one cannot take tax compliance for granted. The experience of the poll tax provides a unique opportunity to study many dimensions of tax compliance. We model nonpayment rates in a short panel of data on the 366 English local authorities. The transparent observability of individual and aggregate liabilities makes reliable measurement of rates of nonpayment possible. Moreover, these rates rose to unprecedented levels as well as exhibiting considerable variation across authorities. This, together with the variation in local taxes both between districts and over time, creates an ideal opportunity for empirical investigation. Our empirical specification allows us to investigate the determinants of compliance as a function of authority characteristics from census and other geographical data. Moreover, the analysis takes seriously the possibility of neighbourhood influences across authority boundaries. Our empirical results confirm the idea that higher taxes lead to larger compliance problems and that attempts to enforce compliance have a positive effect. Neighbourhood effects on non-compliance were less conspicuous, figuring significantly, if at all, only in the final year.","PeriodicalId":105680,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Taxation","volume":"81 2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1993-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123276474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}