This paper reviews the analytical and empirical evidence on certain issues in commodity tax design that have not received much attention. These include the impact on optimal commodity taxes of allowing the following: (i)non linear Engel curves, (ii)Household composition and child subsidy,...

This paper provides evidence showing that the insensivity of marginal commodity tax reforms to demand specification, observed in recent studies, does not extend to the non marginal case. The size of the tax change has a sharp impact on commodity tax reforms. In constrast to priceeffects, neither...

This study provides evidence on optimal commodity tax rates in Australia, and on their sensitivity to demand function and demographic specification. The optimal tax algorithm, proposed and used here, allows the social welfare weights to depend on prices, household composition and aggregate...