The treatment of immovable property is one of the most difficult issues under the VATs in the EU. Ideally, rents and rental values should be taxed just like other consumer goods and services, but doing so would present formidable practical difficulties. Under a second-best approach, the value of...

The European Commission is evaluating the performance of the common VAT, which has many shortcomings. The numerous exemptions and differentiated rate structures violate the logic and functionality of the VAT. The exemptions distort input choices and outsourcing policies. Reduced rates are...

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As economic integration within the European Union (EU) progresses, the interactions between the tax systems of the Member States are of growing importance. Member State tax policies can have spillover effects on other Member States and differing abilities to provide net fiscal benefits to...

The European Commission is evaluating the performance of the common VAT, which has many shortcomings. The numerous exemptions and differentiated rate structures violate the logic and functionality of the VAT. The exemptions distort input choices and outsourcing policies. Reduced rates are...

In the spirit of the European Commission’s call for a simpler, more robust and efficient VAT system, this article proposes to integrate exempt insurance services into the European VAT, and to abolish the discriminatory, excise-type insurance premium taxes levied by the various Member States....

A modern Goods and Services Tax (GST) would do much to alleviate the problems of India’s current indirect tax system which is a serious impediment to the formation of a single common market and further economic growth. The Centre and the States should both have access to the full GST base,...