According to conventional wisdom internationally mobile capital should not be taxed or should be taxed at a lower rate than labour. An important underlying assumption behind this view is that there are no market imperfections, in particular that labour markets clear competitively. At least for...

This paper reviews recent developments in the theory of optimal income taxation and draws two broad conclusions with respect to the Hungarian personal income tax system. The first conclusion is that the optimal top marginal tax rate is likely to be higher, perhaps substantially, than the actual...

There is often a gap between the prescriptions of an 'optimal' tax system and actual tax systems, some of which can be neither efficient economically nor efficient at redistributing income. With a focus on personal income taxes, this paper reviews the political economics literature on tax...

This paper is to determine the optimality of taxation based on a comparative analysis of income taxation in developed and developing countries. In our opinion, the main idea of income tax should be the optimal distribution of tax literacy on the basis of a direct definition of income of...

The philanthropic sector is highly consequential, particularly in the United States, and the most important policies directed toward this sector are tax policies. Yet most economic analysis of the optimal tax treatment of charitable giving is ad hoc, treating it as a subject unto itself. This...

Amid global climate change concerns, policymakers worldwide are increasingly scrutinizing environmentally harmful subsidies. This study examines the tax-deductibility of job-related commuting expenses, which has faced criticism for promoting longer commutes and congestion. Through a controlled,...

How does wealth taxation differ from capital income taxation? When the return on investment is equal across individuals, a well-known result is that the two tax systems are equivalent. Motivated by recent empirical evidence documenting persistent return heterogeneity, we revisit this question....

In West Africa, the Value Added Tax (VAT) policy consists of a uniform tax rate, but several items consumed by rich and poor households, are exempted. We provide an optimal tax framework to reflect on the welfare effects of such a tariff structure, in the context of current debates on domestic...

This paper reviews recent developments in the theory of optimal income taxation and draws two broad conclusions with respect to the Hungarian personal income tax system. The first conclusion is that the optimal top marginal tax rate is likely to be higher, perhaps substantially, than the actual...