Tariff-tax reforms and market access

Reducing tariffs and increasing consumption taxes is a standard IMF advice to countries that want to open up their economy without hurting government finances. Indeed, theoretical analysis of such a tariff–tax reform shows an unambiguous increase in welfare and government revenues. The present paper examines whether the country that implements such a reform ends up opening up its markets to international trade, i.e. whether its market access improves. It is shown that this is not necessarily so. We also show that, comparing to the reform of only tariffs, the tariff–tax reform is a less efficient proposal to follow both as far as it concerns market access and welfare.

Environmental fiscal reform and unemployment in Spain in the presence of an informal sector

4 p.

The tax treatment of employee stock options : generous to a fault

In the 2000 budgets, both the federal and Ontario governments introduced changes to the tax treatment of employee stock options for the explicit purpose of making their tax treatment in Canada similar to or more favourable than that in the United States. The federal budget added a deferral, similar to that currently applicable to options granted by Canadian-controlled private corporations, for up to $100,000 per year of public company stock options. The Ontario budget introduced an exemption from tax for employees involved in research and development on the first $100,000 per year of employee benefits arising on the exercise of qualified stock options or on eligible capital gains arising from the sale of shares acquired by the exercise of eligible stock options. These proposals reflect the apparent acceptance by the two governments that there is a “brain drain” from Canada to the United States of knowledge workers in the “new” economy and that reductions in Canadian taxes should stem this drain. In the author’s view, the tax treatment of employee stock options, even without these changes, is overly generous. Both the federal and provincial proposals ignore the fact that most employee stock options are taxed more favourably in Canada than in the United States in any event. In particular, most employee stock option benefits in Canada are taxed at capital gains tax rates, whereas in the United States most are taxed at full rates. While the US Internal Revenue Code does provide capital gains tax treatment for certain employee stock option benefits, a number of preconditions must be met. Most important, the shares acquired pursuant to the options must be held for a minimum of one year after the option is exercised. In addition, there are monetary limits on the amount of options that qualify for capital gains treatment. In Canada, there are generally no holding period requirements or monetary limits that apply in order for the option holder to benefit from capital gains tax rates. Empirical evidence indicates that the vast majority of employees in the United States exercise their options and immediately sell the shares acquired. These “cashless exercises” do not benefit from capital gains treatment in the United States, whereas similar cashless exercises in Canada generally do. This empirical evidence suggests not only that the 2000 budget proposals are unwarranted, but also that the existing treatment of employee stock options in Canada is already more generous than that in the United States. This article begins with a theoretical “benchmark” for the taxation of employee stock options. The author suggests that employee stock options should be treated in the same manner as other income from employment. In theory, the value of the benefit should be included in income when the option is granted or vests. However, owing to the practical difficulty of valuing employee stock options, the theoretical benchmark proposed is that the value of the benefit (the difference between the fair market value of the shares acquired and the strike price under the option) be taxed when the shares are acquired, and the employer be entitled to a corresponding deduction. The employee stock option rules in Canada and the United States are then compared and contrasted with each other and the benchmark treatment. The article then examines the arguments that have been made for favourable treatment of employee stock options. Included in this critique is a review of the recent empirical work on the Canadian brain drain. Empirical studies suggest that the brain drain—if it exists at all—is small and that, despite what many newspapers and right-wing think-tanks would have us believe, lower taxes in the United States are not the cause. One study, concluding that taxes do have an effect on migration, suggests that even if Canada adopted a tax system identical to that in the United States, the brain drain would be reduced by a mere 10 percent. Indeed, even if Canada eliminated income tax altogether, it would not stop the brain drain. If governments here want to spend money in order to stem the brain drain, they should focus on other areas. For example, Canada produces fewer university graduates in the fields of mathematics, sciences, and engineering than any other G7 country except Italy. The short supply of university graduates in these fields, the apparent loss of top-calibre academics to US
universities, and the consequent lower levels of university research in these areas (an important spawning ground for new ideas in the “new” knowledge-based economy) suggest that Canada may be better served by devoting more resources to its university institutions, particularly in post-graduate programs, rather than continuing the current trend of budget cuts that universities have endured and may further endure if taxes are reduced.
As far as employee stock options are concerned, if Canada does want to look to the United States for guidance on tax reform (which it seems to do with increasing frequency of late), it should adopt the US rules applicable to nonstatutory options, which are close to the proposed benchmark treatment. In the absence of preferential tax treatment, employee stock options would still be included in compensation packages provided that there were sound business reasons for their use. No persuasive evidence has been put forward that the use of stock options, in the absence of tax incentives, is suboptimal. Indeed, the US experience suggests quite the opposite.

Taming Complexity in Australian Income Tax

Taxpayers and tax authorities recognise that complex Australian income tax law is in need of simplification - during the past decade there have been two ineffective attempts at simplification of the tax law - first by redrafting the law in plain English without addressing structural issues - second by the proposed wholesale replacement of the legislation with a new foundation, incorporating most of the causes of the complexity in the current law - with tax law growing in size and complexity, new paths to simplification must be considered.

The taxpayers'€™ charter : a case study in tax administration

The Australian Taxpayers'€™ Charter was introduced in 1997 and a revised version in November 2003. This is therefore an appropriate time to review the contribution of this initiative. This article traces the development of such modern charters and then specifically the development of tax charters. The Australian Taxpayers' Charter and the Australian Tax Office'€™s ("€œATO"€) experience with it are then examined. Among other possible advantages, the Charter may be used as a measure of the ATO'€™s performance. Taxpayers’ views regarding the extent to which the ATO meets its obligations under the Taxpayers'€™ Charter, as expressed in two surveys of Australian voters (N = 2,040 and 2,374), are presented. Generally the taxpayers are supportive. The results of the survey also support the ATO'€™s view that the Charter fits in with compliance policy. Finally, the Charter demonstrates how initiatives in tax administration might he successfully achieved.

Capital and Consumption Tax Reforms in a Small Open Economy

The effects of a reform in capital and consumption taxes on private welfare and government tax revenue are examined for a small open, capital-importing economy. A trade-off between private welfare and tax revenue is encountered in maximizing social welfare. Nonetheless, lowering capital taxes and raising consumption taxes can increase both private welfare and tax revenue if the initial tax rates are not optimal. In addition, a tax reform by this fashion is a likely response to a rise in the foreign rate of return on capital.

Tariff and consumption tax reforms in a developing tourism economy

This paper examines the effects of a coordinated tax reform by replacing import tariffs with point-by-point increases in consumption taxes for a small-open developing tourism economy. Foreign tourists demand for the non-traded goods provided in the informal sector of the host economy, resulting in a tourism-induced terms-of-trade effect. The presence of inbound tourism lends a support to positive tariffs even for a small open economy. The indirect tax reform of this kind can increase residents’ welfare and government revenue when the initial tariffs are relatively larger to the consumption taxes.

Environmental impacts of tariff and tax reforms under origin and destination principles

The impacts of a point-by-point tariff/tax reform on the environment under the origin-based or destination-based tax principle are examined. The policy reform under the origin-based principle can raise the optimal pollution tax and, hence, improve the environment when the consumption demand and pollution are strongly substitutable, whereas the reform under the destination-based principle lowers the optimal pollution tax and, hence, worsens the environment. Nonetheless, when the consumption demand and pollution exhibit weak substitutes or even complements, the tariff/tax reform results in less environmental deterioration under the destination-based principle.

Cash-cum-in-kind transfers and income tax function

This paper investigates income tax revenues response to tax rate changes taking into consideration that cash-cum-in-kind transfers are used as a redistributive package to the community. First, we show that when cash and in-kind transfers are not tied to be substitute instruments, a marginal income tax increase may unambiguously decrease the quantity supplied of labor (and tax revenues therein). Next, we show that whenever the government chooses the optimum provision for the publicly provided good the tax revenue function has a negatively-sloped part with respect to tax rates except for one case. Last, we consider Brazilian data - PNAD - from 1976 to 2008 to test our theoretical implications. Our estimations suggest a weak evidence in favor of the existence of a La er-type curve for Brazilian income tax revenues data. Moreover, wend that the actual average income tax rate seems to be below the estimated optimum level. In a shorter sample from 1996-1999, we nd evidence that labor supply decreases with tax rate when cash and in-kind transfers are in play. Using a pseudo-panel from the same shorter sample, we try to estimate the elasticity of taxable income, following Creedy and Gemmell (2012) and Saez et al. (2009). We explore a small tax reform between 1997 and 1998 that a ected only the higher income tax bracket, and evidence that Brazil is on the revenue reducing side of the La er Curve, at least for individuals in the higher income tax bracket.

Indexes of structural reform in Latin America

Includes bibliography

The effects of growth and economic reform on income distribution in Latin America

Includes bibliography

Tax policy in Latin America: Assessment and guidelines for a second generation of reforms

Includes bibliography

Time to tax for inclusive growth

Safeguarding the advances the continent has already achieved and ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth must be a priority for all the countries in the region. That is why the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and Oxfam are committed to working together in order to promote and build a new consensus against inequality. There is no silver bullet, but there are measures that can be taken, which together can make a big difference —and tax reform is a good place to start. This publication has been prepared in the hope that it will contribute to efforts to combat inequality in Latin America, by analysing the fiscal challenges involved and proposing policy guidelines.

Staff report on entitlement reform options : summary materials.

"December 1994."

The Single tax review.

Title from cover.