A guide to current approaches to measuring the effective tax rate, with case studies that illustrate the different methods discussed.Today's highly complicated tax codes have led economists and policy makers depend on simplified summary measures in order to understand how taxes affect the...

Today's highly complicated tax codes have led economists and policy makers depend on simplified summary measures in order to understand how taxes affect the economy. Studies of the effective tax rate--that is, a measurement of the net amount of tax levied on certain economic activities--provide...

The paper discusses the main arguments for destination- versus origin-based commodity taxation in the European Community's Internal Market. Destination-based solutions necessarily distort commodity trade in the Community because final con-sumer purchases can only be taxed in the origin country....

This paper suggests that the optimal tax system should favour market-produced services which are close substitutes for home-produced services. First, we modify the classical Corlett-Hague rule for optimal commodity taxation by showing that it may be optimal to impose a relatively low tax rate on...