IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ifs/fistud/v32y2011i3p437-452.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Design of Capital Income Taxation: Reflections on the Mirrlees Review

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Keuschnigg

Abstract

This commentary reflects on the recommendations of the Mirrlees Review on tax reform with a special focus on capital income taxation. Regarding the alternatives of moving to a consumption based tax system, the commentary discusses the relative merits of choosing an ACE system (allowance for corporate equity) rather than a cash-flow tax on the company level. It reviews the arguments in favour of full elimination of tax on the normal return to savings at the personal level which contrasts with alternative tax reform proposals recommending a positive but low and flat tax rate on personal capital income. It also discusses how existing computational models would have to be extended for a meaningful quantification of the gains and costs of implementing a tax reform along the lines of the Mirrlees Review.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Keuschnigg, 2011. "The Design of Capital Income Taxation: Reflections on the Mirrlees Review," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 437-452, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:ifs:fistud:v:32:y:2011:i:3:p:437-452
    DOI: j.1475-5890.2011.00145.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2011.00145.x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/j.1475-5890.2011.00145.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christian Keuschnigg & Martin Dietz, 2007. "A growth oriented dual income tax," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 14(2), pages 191-221, April.
    2. (IFS), Institute for Fiscal Studies & Mirrlees, James (ed.), 2011. "Tax By Design: The Mirrlees Review," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199553747.
    3. Boadway, Robin & Bruce, Neil, 1984. "A general proposition on the design of a neutral business tax," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 231-239, July.
    4. David Altig, 2001. "Simulating Fundamental Tax Reform in the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 574-595, June.
    5. Egger, Peter & Eggert, Wolfgang & Keuschnigg, Christian & Winner, Hannes, 2010. "Corporate taxation, debt financing and foreign-plant ownership," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 96-107, January.
    6. Gordon, Roger H. & Lee, Young, 2001. "Do taxes affect corporate debt policy? Evidence from U.S. corporate tax return data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 195-224, November.
    7. Bartelsman, Eric J. & Beetsma, Roel M. W. J., 2003. "Why pay more? Corporate tax avoidance through transfer pricing in OECD countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(9-10), pages 2225-2252, September.
    8. Ruud A. de Mooij & Sjef Ederveen, 2008. "Corporate tax elasticities: a reader's guide to empirical findings," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 680-697, winter.
    9. Feldstein, Martin, 1976. "On the theory of tax reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1-2), pages 77-104.
    10. Jean Tirole, 2006. "The Theory of Corporate Finance," Post-Print hal-00173191, HAL.
    11. Bond, Stephen R. & Devereux, Michael P., 2003. "Generalised R-based and S-based taxes under uncertainty," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(5-6), pages 1291-1311, May.
    12. Christian Keuschnigg & Mirela Keuschnigg, 2010. "Transition Strategies in Fundamental Tax Reform," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2010 2010-10, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    13. Bonds, Stephen R. & Devereux, Michael P., 1995. "On the design of a neutral business tax under uncertainty," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 57-71, September.
    14. Peter Sørensen, 2005. "Neutral Taxation of Shareholder Income," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(6), pages 777-801, November.
    15. Michael P. Devereux & Rachel Griffith & Alexander Klemm, 2002. "Corporate income tax reforms and international tax competition [‘Do domestic firms benefit from direct foreign investment? Evidence from Venezuela’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 17(35), pages 449-495.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Schock, Matthias Malte, 2019. "Steuerreformvorschläge des Mirrlees Committee und der Stiftung Marktwirtschaft [Tax Reform Proposals of the Mirrlees Committee and the Stiftung Marktwirtschaft]," MPRA Paper 96689, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Richard Ochmann, 2014. "Differential income taxation and household asset allocation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 880-894, March.
    3. Claudio Agostini & Pablo Correa & Carla Maldonado & Max Spiess, 2021. "Hoja en blanco: hacia una nueva institucionalidad y régimen tributario para Chile," Estudios Públicos, Centro de Estudios Públicos, vol. 0(161), pages 153-186.
    4. Kayis-Kumar, Ann, 2015. "Thin capitalisation rules: A second-best solution to the cross-border debt bias?," MPRA Paper 72031, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Kayis-Kumar, Ann, 2018. "Implementing corporate tax cuts at the expense of neutrality? A legal and optimisation analysis of fundamental reform in practice," MPRA Paper 89703, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rumpf, Dominik, 2013. "Zinsbereinigung bei der Dualen Einkommensteuer," Beiträge zur Finanzwissenschaft, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, edition 1, volume 32, number urn:isbn:9783161528699, December.
    2. Michael P. Devereux & Peter Birch Sørensen, 2006. "The Corporate Income Tax: international trends and options for fundamental reform," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 264, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    3. Devereux, Michael P., 2012. "Issues in the Design of Taxes on Corporate Profit," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 65(3), pages 709-730, September.
    4. Christian Keuschnigg & Evelyn Ribi, 2013. "Profit taxes and financing constraints," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 20(5), pages 808-826, October.
    5. Ruud de Mooij & Michael P. Devereux, 2008. "Alternative Systems of Business Tax in Europe: An applied analysis of ACE and CBIT Reforms," Taxation Studies 0023, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    6. Peter Birch Sørensen, 2006. "Can Capital Income Taxes Survive? And Should They?," EPRU Working Paper Series 06-06, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    7. Hebous, Shafik & Ruf, Martin, 2017. "Evaluating the effects of ACE systems on multinational debt financing and investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 131-149.
    8. Peter Birch Sørensen, 2006. "Can Capital Income Taxes Survive? And Should They?," CESifo Working Paper Series 1793, CESifo.
    9. Hebous, Shafik & Ruf, Martin, 2017. "Evaluating the effects of ACE systems on multinational debt financing and investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 131-149.
    10. Christian Keuschnigg & Mirela Keuschnigg, 2010. "Transition Strategies in Fundamental Tax Reform," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2010 2010-10, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    11. Alan J. Auerbach, 2006. "The Future of Capital Income Taxation," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 27(4), pages 399-420, December.
    12. Robin Boadway & Motohiro Sato & Jean-Francois Tremblay, 2015. "Cash-flow business taxation revisited: bankruptcy, risk aversion and asymmetric information," Working Papers 1531, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    13. Sanz Labrador, Ismael & Sanz-Sanz, José Félix, 2013. "Política fiscal y crecimiento económico: consideraciones microeconómicas y relaciones macroeconómicas," Macroeconomía del Desarrollo 5367, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    14. Nils aus dem Moore, 2014. "Taxes and Corporate Financing Decisions – Evidence from the Belgian ACE Reform," Ruhr Economic Papers 0533, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    15. Keuschnigg, Christian & Ribi, Evelyn, 2010. "Profit Taxation, Innovation and the Financing of Heterogeneous Firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 7626, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Keuschnigg, Christian & Ribi, Evelyn, 2009. "Profit Taxation and Finance Constraints," CEPR Discussion Papers 7433, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Finke, Katharina & Heckemeyer, Jost H. & Spengel, Christoph, 2014. "Assessing the impact of introducing an ACE regime: A behavioural corporate microsimulation analysis for Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-033, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    18. Christian Keuschnigg & Martin Dietz, 2007. "A growth oriented dual income tax," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 14(2), pages 191-221, April.
    19. Alan Auerbach & Michael P Devereux & Helen Simpson, 2007. "Taxing corporate income," Working Papers 0705, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    20. Panteghini, Paolo M., 2006. "S-based taxation under default risk," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(10-11), pages 1923-1937, November.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ifs:fistud:v:32:y:2011:i:3:p:437-452. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emma Hyman (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifsssuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.