It appears that the debate in the US regarding "fundamental tax reform", commonly defined as replacing the existing corporate and individual income tax system with some form of consumption-based taxation, is about to resume in earnest. At the current time, however, the chances for passage of...

Although consumption-based direct taxation has long been advocated in academic and policy circles, very few countries have actually implemented such taxes.This article provides an overview of alternative approaches to direct consumption taxation and examines arguments favoring consumption taxes...

Although much academic and policy discussion has focused on replacing the income tax with a consumption-based tax, very few consumption-based direct tax reforms have been enacted. Much more common are approaches that reduce the level of capital-income taxation under an income tax, including the...