List of illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Why tax consumption? -- The case for the X tax -- Maintaining progressivity -- Fringe benefits and transfer payments -- Business firms -- Financial services -- International transactions -- The transition -- The nonbusiness sector --...

The discussion about income versus consumption as the ideal tax base looks back on a long history. In recent years, the debate about income versus consumption as the better tax base reemerged in the United States (2002) and in Germany (2006). In view of the long history of the debate, it is...