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* Working Paper No. 07/142: VAT Attacks!

Author/Editor: Keen, Michael

Summary: Like the theory of the second best that the 2006 congress marks, the VAT is now fifty years old. Judged by the extent and speed of its spread around the world, and the revenue that it raises, the VAT would seem to have been a remarkable success. Over the last few years, however, it has come under a series of attacks. This paper considers three of the most prominent of these. One is the fear (raised mainly in the United States) that the VAT actually does too good a job of raising tax revenue. The second is the view that the VAT does a bad job of taxing the informal sector-and that tariffs might be a better revenue-raising instrument for many developing countries. The third attack is the most literal, by criminals rather than theorists: in the European Union and elsewhere, sophisticated VAT fraud, targeting its refund provisions, has become a serious concern.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=20975.0
[Matched: United States]

* Working Paper No. 07/143: U.S. Revenue Surprises: Are Happy Days Here to Stay?

Author/Editor: Swiston, Andrew ; Mühleisen, Martin ; Mathai, Koshy

Summary: A key question for U.S. policymakers is whether the recent strength in federal revenue is likely to continue. This question is addressed through an econometric analysis of the determinants of tax revenue, using time series that are adjusted for tax policy changes. The results suggest that growth in corporate profits and capital gains each contributed forty percent of the increase in the revenue-to-GDP ratio from 2004-2006, and rising income inequality explains much of the rest. While part of the revenue rise is the result of structural changes taking place in the U.S. economy, some of the recent buoyancy is likely to prove temporary, reflecting the highly cyclical nature of these variables.
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=21035.0
[Matched: United States]



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