Tax reform provides many examples of failures - where reforms did not achieve their objectives successfully and sometimes even had to be reversed. However, value added tax (VAT) in the UK and goods and services tax (GST) in New Zealand have survived successfully for many years. This paper...

We estimate the growth and utility effects of switching from a graduated-rate federal income tax to a flat tax along the lines of Hall-Rabushka (1995). We, furthermore, calculate the post-reform transition dynamics for a number of variables, including the economic growth rate, the representative...

In this paper, we investigate a dual class of bi-polarization indices, namely rank-dependent bi-polarization indices. We show that these indices may be characterized with the generalized positional transfer sensitivity property. We find necessary and sufficient conditions in order to identify...

This paper applies a new approach to the estimation of the impact of policy, both the levels and the changes, on wage differentials using a new high-quality data set on wage differentials by schooling level for 18 Latin American countries for the period 1977-1998. The results indicate that...

The two papers give a full analysis of Latin American taxaton since 1990 up to day. One paper deals with counry cases. Those examinated regard Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costarica, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay. For each country tax trends are examinated, starting by 1990 or before. Then...

This paper extends previous work presented at the SABE/IAREP conference at St Mary’s University, Halifax (James, 2009). In the earlier paper it was shown that conventional economic theory is used to make the case for tax reform but does not always adequately incorporate all the relevant...

Provincial retail sales taxes are remarkably high on business inputs, including purchases of capital goods that spur growth in productivity and employment. Evidence from Eastern provinces with a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) suggests that harmonizing provincial sales taxes with the federal GST...

The paper assumes a government advantage in collecting income contingent payments and develop a proposal for a government loan program that is an integral part of the tax system. The focus is on administrative costs and the difference between the collection technologies available to the public...