Modelling Indirect Taxes and Tax Reform

Indirect taxes have become an increasingly important revenue-raising tool for governments in developed countries. In this book, John Creedy applies his wealth of experience and expertise to the analysis of indirect taxes and, in particular, concentrates on the modelling of indirect tax reform and its distributional implications.Initially, he examines the implications of alternative indirect tax systems and provides an introductory survey of various measures of welfare change and excess burden in the context of indirect taxes. He pays particular attention to the measurement issues involved and uses partial equilibrium models to uncover various aspects of tax reform. Specifically, he: addresses the questions of measuring welfare changes arising from price changes examines the built-in flexibility of various forms of consumption taxation calculates the possible redistributive effects of indirect taxes and illustrates his methods using case study examples of the indirect tax system in Australia examines the horizontal inequity of different consumption taxes considers the optimal direction of small changes in indirect tax rates analyses the positive and negative effects of a carbon tax Modelling Indirect Taxes and Tax Reform will be useful to scholars and policymakers interested in public economics and finance and modelling taxes.