This essay offers four principles of taxation by the United States government. Taken together, the principles would give rise to a no-gimmicks flat income tax. The rate of taxation would be expressed as a whole-number percentage, not to exceed 8%. The scope of taxation would be the entire income...

The existing theoretical literature on fiscal competition has to a large extent ignored the role of government debt as a determinant of taxes and productive public spending. We develop a simple model of fiscal competition with government borrowing. If a default on government debt is no option,...

The implications of high indebtedness for strategic tax setting in internationally integrated capital markets have found little attention so far. We analyze when and how changes in initial debt levels affect the distribution of economic activity across space. When public borrowing is...

The U.S. is beset by weak economic growth, ballooning debt and stubbornly high unemployment but the collapse of the housing bubble that spurred the 2008-2009 global financial crisis was more a consequence than a cause of what is wrong. The real culprit was and remains poor policymaking in the...

Fiscal legislations have, more often than not, been treated as a class in themselves in so far as the principles of statutory interpretation are concerned. The differences in their intent and application, contrasted from other legislations, is such that distinct principles have been evolved on...

The common VAT system adopted by EU member states comprises a set of various rates, which differentiate the goods and services subject to this tax. However, from a technical and management point of view, it would be preferable to adopt a single tax rate as it reduces distortions and facilitates...

The main goal of this article is to discuss the mutual economic relations between personal and corporate income taxes. The article consists of three parts. The first is an introduction to these taxes and taxation. The second is the analysis in which the objective of the taxation is discussed....

In this reply to a comment by Jentsch and Lunsford, we show that, when focusing on the relevant impulse responses, the evidence for economic and statistically significant macroeconomic effects of tax changes in Mertens and Ravn (2013) remains present for a range of asymptotically valid inference...

Governments of EU Member States have been reducing statutory corporate income tax rates (“CIT”) for several years. What encourages them to take part in tax competition? The article discusses several issues which are in favor of lower CIT rates. They are selected based on their relevance. The...

A major goal of the EU Commission in the area of direct taxation is the introduction of a common consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) in Europe. While hardly discussed in the literature, such a system would limit national discretion over tax depreciation. In a sample of up to 47 countries, we...