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| Taxation |
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| An aspect of fiscal policy |
In economics, the excess burden of taxation is one of the economic losses that society suffers as the result of taxes or subsidies. Economic theory posits that distortions change the amount and type of economic behavior from that which would occur in a free market without the tax. Excess burdens can be measured using the average cost of funds or the marginal cost of funds (MCF). Excess burdens were first discussed by Adam Smith.[1]
An equivalent kind of inefficiency can also be caused by subsidies (which technically can be viewed as taxes with negative rates).[citation needed]
Economic losses due to taxes have been evaluated to be as low as 2.5 cents per dollar of revenue, and as high as 30 cents per dollar of revenue (on average), and even much higher at the margins.[2][3][4]
- ^ "Adam Smith and Tax Burden Theory". Retrieved 6 Jun 2012.
- ^ Feldstein, Martin (1999). "Tax Avoidance and the Deadweight Loss of the Income Tax" (PDF). Review of Economics and Statistics. 81 (4). p. 674. doi:10.1162/003465399558391. S2CID 57568398.
- ^ Ballard, Charles L.; Shoven, John B.; Whalley, John (1982). "The Welfare Cost of Distortions in the United States Tax System: A General Equilibrium Approach". National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper (1043). doi:10.3386/w1043. S2CID 152604988.
- ^ For a review of literature arguing that moving to a uniform taxation of investment will lead to 0.1% to 0.3% increase in GNP, see Summers, Lawrence H. (1987). "Should Tax Reform Level the Playing Field?". National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper (2132). Cambridge, MA. doi:10.3386/w2132.