In many countries small businesses expect and generally receive special treatment, concessions or arrangements regarding taxation compared with medium and large business. Such policies are based primarily upon the role and importance of small business in economic growth and especially job...

I analyze in this paper a financial program found commonly in developing countries that are engaged in improving structural imbalances. Similar programs have also been adopted in industrialized countries, in the U.K. since 1980 and in the U.S. since 1984. A typical financial program consists of...

In this essay we review the evidence from marketing research about price presentation of consumer products and discuss how these lessons have been applied—consciously or unconsciously—in the design of the U.S. tax system. Our perspective is that, in most situations, the designers of the tax...

Many experts equate the best tax system with the simplest, and the best tax reform with the one that most simplifies the system. However, the simplest, most elegant policy need not be the best because tax policy involves a tradeoff among objectives, including equity and efficiency objectives,...

I analyze in this paper a financial program found commonly in developing countries that are engaged in improving structural imbalances. Similar programs have also been adopted in industrialized countries, in the U.K. since 1980 and in the U.S. since 1984. A typical financial program consists of...

Launched in 1994, the Massachusetts Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP) is a state and local partnership designed to relieve unemployment, redevelop blighted commercial districts and promote economic growth by providing tax incentives for businesses relocating or expanding in...

This dissertation presents a series of three essays that examine the functional form of the U. S. federal income tax and its implications. In the first essay we introduce the convex functional form of the income tax which we believe is superior to the standard income-proportional form. We also...

This article discusses probably the most significant obstacle to the adoption of a consumption tax: the negative effects on existing wealth that the transition from the income tax to most forms of a consumption tax would have. The Congressional Budget Office in its 1997 study posed the question,...

The article builds on the Hall-Rabushka Flat Tax and proposes a consumption tax called the “E Tax,” which is an electronically collected credit invoice VAT. The Hall-Rabushka Flat Tax is a two-tier consumption tax that is based on a subtraction method VAT. The Hall-Rabushka nuance, however,...

It is well known by now that population ageing threatens the sustainability of fiscal policies in many countries. Although a number of policy options are available to address the problem, the uncertainty surrounding the future development of the population complicates matters. This paper...