0000000000681396

AUTHOR

Jukka Pirttilä

0000-0002-5462-8368

The Effects of the Value-Added Tax on Revenue and Inequality

This paper examines the impact of the introduction of the value-added tax on inequality and government revenues using newly released macro data. We present both conventional country fixed effect regressions and instrumental variable analyses, where VAT adoption is instrumented using the previous values of neighbouring countries’ VAT systems as an instrument. The results reveal – in contrast to earlier work – that the revenue consequences of the VAT have not been positive. The results indicate that income-based inequality has increased due to the VAT adoption, whereas consumption inequality has remained unaffected.

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The Effects of the Value-Added Tax on Revenue and Inequality

This paper examines the impact of the introduction of the value-added tax on inequality and government revenues using newly released macro data. We present both conventional country fixed effect regressions and instrumental variable analyses, where VAT adoption is instrumented using the previous values of neighbouring countries’ VAT systems as an instrument. The results reveal – in contrast to earlier work – that the revenue consequences of the VAT have not been positive. The results indicate that income-based inequality has increased due to the VAT adoption, whereas consumption inequality has remained unaffected. Peer reviewed

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Lyhyt vastaus Yläoutiselle, Ilmakunnakselle, Pursiaiselle ja Vartiaiselle

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Vastaus ministeri Saarikon kommenttiin

Tässä kirjoituksessa kertaamme lyhyesti Talouspolitiikan arviointineuvoston vuoden 2022 raportin keskeisen sisällön ja kommentoimme ministeri Annika Saarikon puheenvuorossaan esiin nostamia seikkoja. Arvostamme suuresti sitä, että ministeri osallistui neuvoston raportin julkistusseminaariin sekä kiitämme häntä perustelluista huomioista. nonPeerReviewed

research product

The Effects of the Value-Added Tax on Revenue and Inequality

This paper examines the impact of the introduction of the value-added tax on inequality and government revenues using newly released macro data. We present both conventional country fixed effect regressions and instrumental variable analyses, where VAT adoption is instrumented using the previous values of neighbouring countries’ VAT systems as an instrument. The results reveal – in contrast to earlier work – that the revenue consequences of the VAT have not been positive. The results indicate that income-based inequality has increased due to the VAT adoption, whereas consumption inequality has remained unaffected.

research product