This paper proposes a method for evaluating the impact of tax reform on tax revenues and the distribution of the tax burden. The technique consists of decomposing actual revenue relative to potential revenue into components attributable to (i) changes in the tax rate structure (ii) deductions...

Fundamental tax reform, replacing the income tax with a sales tax, is commonly thought to reduce levels of criminal and other 'underground' economic activity by implicitly taxing their returns. This paper finds instead that the impact of tax reform depends on the relative labour intensity of...

In the 1970s, the Australian income tax system was subject to a wave of avoidance and evasion unprecedented in this country and probably unmatched anywhere else in the world. The episode cost revenue billions of dollars, did untold damage to the social fabric of our country and permanently...