This Handbook entry presents a conceptual, normative overview of the subject oftaxation. It emphasizes the relationships among the main functions of taxation - notably, raisingrevenue, redistributing income, and correcting externalities - and the mapping between thesefunctions and various forms...

This paper examines the determinants that can explain the dynamic of structure and tax revenue from the political economy, taking the case of Latin American and the partially adopted reforms after the external debt crisis to show their pertinence, given that heterogeneity found within region's...

Richard A. Musgrave (1910-2007) is remembered today as the American economist who established modern foundations for public finance theory in the middle of the twentieth century. His work as a tax expert in developing countries has received little historical scrutiny. Musgrave was the chief...

Polish pension system has been severely changed in last years. However, it is still hard to find a purpose, for what these changes have been done. At the beginning of 1990 Polish pension system based on current payment (pass as you go system). In the end of 1998 a capital component was...

This paper presents the results of an original survey experiment on whether the public prefers “tax expenditures” to “direct outlays” — that is, whether members of the public are more likely to support government spending that takes the form of a tax credit rather than a check or cash....

Measuring the size of government is not simple. Standard measures omit important aspects of government action such as the many deductions, credits, and other tax preferences used to influence resource allocation. We argue that many tax preferences are effectively spending. Traditional measures...

Die Studie beschäftigt sich mit dem Verhältnis ertragsabhängiger und ertragsunabhängiger Steuern in Deutschland und in der OECD. Üblich ist die Unterscheidung zwischen direkten und indirekten Steuern. Abweichend davon orientieren wir uns an der Frage, in welchem Ausmaß die Besteuerung von...

Our system of federal taxes is a set of laws, enacted by Congress and signed by the President. The practice of tax law is generally the practice of law. So why are the non-lawyers the ones practicing in this field? This article examines the regulation of the practice of law, including the...

There has been surprisingly little empirical work explaining why countries choose different bundles of taxes. Early research by Musgrave and Hinrichs focused on the amorphous distinction between direct and indirect taxes. More recent research has examined the use of trade taxes and inflation,...