This paper considers what it might mean to describe the VAT as a "money machine," tests whether it is one, and asks if it might consequently be wise not to adopt it. We find broadly persuasive evidence, using panel data for the OECD, for a "weak form" of the money–machine hypothesis: that...

Like any tax, the VAT is vulnerable to evasion and fraud. But its credit and refund mechanism offers unique opportunities for abuse, and this has recently become an urgent concern in the European Union (EU). This paper describes the main forms of noncompliance distinctive to a VAT, considers how...

This paper sets out some tools for understanding the performance of the value added tax (VAT). Applying a decomposition of VAT revenues (as a share of GDP) to the universe of VATs over the last twenty years, it emerges that developments have been driven much less by changes in standard rates...

This article generalizes existing results on the effects of specific and ad valorem taxes on product quality in competitive markets. It is shown that the critical quantity on which these effects turn is the price elasticity of the marginal valuation of quality. Previous analyses, it emerges,...

This paper focuses on the implications of the economic crisis and recession of 2008–2009 for climate change and related policy responses. Stressing that even prolonged output losses make very little difference to appropriate emissions reduction objectives, the paper argues that a cautious...

Federal structures create the possibility of vertical tax externalities between levels of government, with the private sector's response to the tax policy decisions of one level affecting the tax base of the other. Such effects arise most obviously when both levels of government co-occupy the...

This paper explores the role of trade instruments in globally efficient climate policies, focusing on the central issue of whether border tax adjustment (BTA) is warranted when carbon prices differ internationally. It shows that tariff policy has a role in easing cross-country distributional...

The economic crisis that erupted in 2008 has prompted many countries to rethink, and several already to reform, the taxation of financial institutions. The underlying analytical issues, however, have received almost no attention in the public finance literature. This article explores the...