Commodity Tax Harmonisation and Public Goods

This paper examines the welfare effects of commodity tax harmonisation incorporating in the analysis the important feature that tax revenue is not returned to the consumer as a lump sum but it is used to finance a local public good. Only under certain conditions, commodity tax harmonisation is potentially welfare improving. Introducing both transfers between consumers and transfers between governments, it is shown, inter alia, that the analysis is sensitive to the kind of transfers assumed, suggesting that arguments that rely on international transfers should be handled with care.