Tax Incentives Policy, Firm Investment, Firm exports, and Gross Output: Panel Econometric Modelling

A panel econometric model consisting of 118,380 firms, spanning 2014 to 2019 was used to determine the impact of tax incentive policy on firm investment, firm gross output, and exports. A two-stage modelling approach was used, first the decision to invest or export was modelled using a binary logit model. In the second phase, the impact of the tax incentives policy was estimated. The decisions to export and invest are marginally driven by tax incentive policy. A shilling given as tax expenditure increases the probability of investing and exporting by 0.018% and 0.48% respectively. The results from the study imply that export and investment-related tax incentives are either redundant or have a negligible impact on their respective target variables.

The contribution of tax expenditure in fiscal consolidation in post-crisis economies: a case study of the context in Portugal

In this research, we analyse the use of fiscal expenditure as an instrument of fiscal consolidation policy. Portugal was subject to the financial assistance programme (PAEF) articulated with the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank between 2010 and 2014. The objective is to analyse the evolution of fiscal expenditure in the following four years, after the end of that term programme, that is, between 2015-2018. The outcome is to know if the policy of reducing fiscal expenditure implemented in the years in which the programme was in force (2010-2014), continued into the following four years. We compared this evolution with the evolution of direct expenditure, based on two main axes: economic expenditure and social expenditure. The data collection technique is used through document research, and the data obtained was from information provided by national, European statistical authorities and secondary sources of information. It is concluded that, in the 2014-2018 period, the increase in public revenue, due to the decrease in tax expenditure, did not evolve consistently. In 2014-2018, direct public expenditure did not follow the same pattern as in the previous years of 2011-2014, given the functional equivalence of the two types of expenditure. Finally, to observe the relationship between the level of fiscal consolidation, carried out between the years 2010 and 2018, and the behaviour of tax revenue and expenditure, the Scheffé test was performed on the averages of the variables Total Revenue and Expenditure, and Tax Revenue and Expenditure. This was applied in order to observe if the averages of the variables are significantly relevant for the level of fiscal consolidation or if there are other variables, equally important, that were not taken into account in the study, but that had a preponderant role (such as the economic context). We have to statistically conclude that both the revenue and expenditure averages and the percentage averages are not all equal, as they are, in fact, all different between the groups analysed. In order to clarify if the differences in revenue and expenditure and in the respective percentages are statistically significant or if, on the contrary, they are merely eventual, we previously verified their applicability through the assumptions of normality and homoscedasticity of each of the data sets, using the ANOVA test (Fisher, 1918). We observed that for both the amounts of revenue and expenditure, as well as the percentages, the p-value observed in the ANOVA test was equal to 0.000 (i.e. less than 0.050), implying the rejection of the null hypotheses and the acceptance of the alternative hypotheses, according to which the average values of the amounts of revenue and expenditure, and the average values of the percentages are not all equal. The general conclusion is that there was budget consolidation, but this must have been due to other factors, such as the economic environment, since there is no direct relationship between revenue, fiscal expenditure and budget consolidation in any of the periods studied.

Analisis Bibliometrik Atas Penelitian Belanja Perpajakan (Tax Expenditures) Menggunakan Aplikasi VOSViewer

Belanja perpajakan menyebabkan berkurangnya penerimaan pajak dari wajib pajak tertentu. Tujuan dari ketentuan belanja perpajakan adalah untuk mencapai tujuan sosial dan tujuan ekonomi. Hal ini telah menarik banyak cendekia untuk melakukan studi terkait belanja perpajakan. Pada penelitian ini, analisis bibliometrik dilakukan atas artikel penelitian yang dipublikasikan di jurnal yang terindeks Scopus selama tahun 2001 – 2021 (periode 20 tahun). Penelusuran artikel menggunakan aplikasi Publish or Perish. Hasil penelusuran diseleksi menggunakan aplikasi Mendeley dan diperoleh 52 artikel. Selanjutnya, artikel terpilih dianalisis dengan aplikasi VOSviewer. Hasil analisis menunjukkan 52 artikel tersebut dapat dikelompokkan menjadi empat klaster. Keempat klister tersebut mewakili empat arus penelitian belanja perpajakan. Kata kunci yang paling sering muncul di tiap klister adalah ‘spending’, ‘tax expenditure’, ‘contribution’, dan ‘tax credit’. Tax expenditures have reduced government tax revenues from certain group of taxpayers. The purpose of tax expenditure provisions is to achieve social and economic objectives. It has attracted many scholars to conduct studies related to this field. For this work, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on research papers published in Scopus indexed journals during 2001 – 2021 (20 years period). Searching for research papers was done using Publish or Perish software. The results were refined with Mendeley software and 52 articles were obtained. The selected articles were analyzed using VOSviewer software. The results of the analysis showed that the 52 research papers can be grouped into four clusters. The four clusters represent four streams of research in tax expenditures. The keywords that occured most frequently in each cluster were 'spending', 'benefit', 'contribution', and 'tax credit'.

When Harmful Tax Expenditure Prevails over Environmental Tax: An Assessment on the 2014 Mexican Fiscal Reform

This article examines the role of environmental taxation in mitigating environmental problems and contributing to sustainability in Mexico. It focuses on environmental tax revenues and tax expenditures since the 2014 Public Financial Reform (PFR), according to pro- or anti-environmental orientation. The research carried out combines the study of the regulation of the selected tax instruments, their classification and the empirical analysis of the tax revenues and tax expenditures associated with the different taxes over the periods of validity of the taxes and benefits studied, using the databases of the CIAT and the Mexican SHCP. A critical analysis addresses the weak environmental function of environment-related taxes (IEPS, ISAN…), as well as the late implementation and reduced impact of the carbon and pesticide taxes introduced in 2014. The evolution of tax incentives and expenditure is thoroughly examined by examining both environmental measures, which have evolved positively but within a very reduced level, and the most prevalent tax expenditure measures, with harmful impacts to the environment. Based on the results obtained, long-term structural changes in the Mexican tax system are suggested. As for the short to medium term, profound changes in tax expenditure are proposed to eliminate of those tax benefits harmful to the environment, introduce of tax benefits for circular activities (e.g., repairing, reusing and remanufacturing) and broaden the carbon tax base and rates. The conclusions include recommendations for moving towards a systemic green tax reform that assists the transformation towards a sustainable economy.

Justification of the expenditure of using the concept of tax expenditure in the preferential policy

The article theoretically substantiates the feasibility of implementing the concept of tax expenditures in Ukraine. It is proved that one of the problems of the economy is an unreasonable approach to the application of tax benefits, which leads to a significant budget deficit in Ukraine. The losses of EU budgets by the method of lost budget revenues are analyzed. The historical experience of realization of the concept of tax expenses is generalized. The requirements are highlighted and the main approaches to the basic structure of taxes are described. The foreign experience of determining the basic structure of taxes, the method of estimating tax expenditures and the method of accounting for tax expenditures are generalized. Based on the study of foreign experience, it is proposed to implement the concept of tax expenditures in Ukraine at the following stages: improvement of tax legislation; providing a legislative definition of the concept of "tax costs"; systematization of all expenses that will be included in tax expenses; choice of methods of collecting and analyzing information on tax expenditures; substantiation of the method of assessment and accounting of tax expenses; determining the order of reporting on tax expenditures; assessment of the effectiveness of tax expenditure management; application of evaluation results in the budget process. Signs of classification of tax expenses are singled out. It is proved that the main method of estimating tax expenditures is the method of lost budget revenues. The advantages and disadvantages of methods of accounting for tax expenditures are summarized. The models of reporting on tax expenditures are described. Groups of criteria for the effectiveness of tax expenditures are identified. The positive and negative sides of the concept of tax expenditures are substantiated.

Taxation for a Circular Economy: New Instruments, Reforms, and Architectural Changes in the Fiscal System

This article addresses fiscal policy as a key instrument for promoting the transition to a circular economy. It is based on the hypotheses that (1) the current tax system penalizes circular activities, which are generally labour intensive, as opposed to new product manufacturing activities, which are generally intensive in materials and energy, highly automated and robotized, and (2) that the environmental taxation implemented in recent decades is unable to introduce significant changes to stop climate change or keep the economy within planetary ecological limits. This article examines the basis of an alternative tax system and tax instruments for correcting the current linear economy bias and driving the transition to a circular economy. Proposals are developed for both structural and partial reforms of the fiscal system, focusing on tax measures that can be implemented in the medium or short term to boost a circular economy. More specifically, we suggest a complete redesign of the currently opaque and significant amount of tax expenditure to transform environmentally harmful tax benefits into environmentally friendly tax measures that are suitable for the circular economy.

the General Equilibrium Incidence of the Earned Income Tax Credit

The Earned Income Tax Credit is a $67 billion tax expenditure that subsidizes 20% of all workers. Yet all prior analysis uses partial equilibrium assumptions on gross wages. I derive the general equilibrium incidence of wage subsidies and quantify the importance of EITC spillovers in three ways. I calculate the GE incidence of the 1993 and 2009 EITC expansions using new elasticity estimates. I contrast the incidence of counterfactual EITC and Welfare expansions. I quantify the effect of equalizing the EITC for workers with and without children. In all cases, I find spillovers are economically meaningful.