VAT Attacks!

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VAT Attacks!

Author Info

Michael Keen

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Michael Keen

Abstract

Like the theory of the second best that the 2006 congress marks, the VAT is now fifty years old. Judged by the extent and speed of its spread around the world, and the revenue that it raises, the VAT would seem to have been a remarkable success. Over the last few years, however, it has come under a series of attacks. This paper considers three of the most prominent of these. One is the fear (raised mainly in the United States) that the VAT actually does too good a job of raising tax revenue. The second is the view that the VAT does a bad job of taxing the informal sector-and that tariffs might be a better revenue-raising instrument for many developing countries. The third attack is the most literal, by criminals rather than theorists: in the European Union and elsewhere, sophisticated VAT fraud, targeting its refund provisions, has become a serious concern.

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Paper provided by International Monetary Fund in its series IMF Working Papers with number 07/142.

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Length: 21 pages
Date of creation: 28 Jun 2007
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:07/142

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Other versions of this item:

Article
- Michael Keen, 2007. "VAT attacks!," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 365-381, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2007-09-16 (All new papers)
NEP-PBE-2007-09-16 (Public Economics)
NEP-PUB-2007-09-16 (Public Finance)

This item is featured on the following reading lists:

European Public Finance (ECON-O-403)

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

Joel Slemrod, 2007. "Cheating Ourselves: The Economics of Tax Evasion," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 25-48, Winter.
Emran, M. Shahe & Stiglitz, Joseph E., 2005. "On selective indirect tax reform in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(4), pages 599-623, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- M. Shahe Emran & Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2002. "On Selective Indirect Tax Reform in Developing Countries," International Trade 0210003, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
Thomas Baunsgaard & Michael Keen, 2005. "Tax Revenue and (or?) Trade Liberalization," IMF Working Papers 05/112, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
Besley, Timothy & Smart, Michael, 2007. "Fiscal restraints and voter welfare," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(3-4), pages 755-773, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Timothy Besley & Michael Smart, 2005. "Fiscal Restraints and Voter Welfare," STICERD - Political Economy and Public Policy Paper Series 06, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
Michael Keen & Ben Lockwood, 2007. "The Value Added Tax: Its Causes and Consequences," Economics Working Papers ECO2007/09, European University Institute. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Keen, Michael & Lockwood, Ben, 2007. "The Value Added Tax : Its Causes and Consequences," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 801, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
- Ben Lockwood & Michael Keen, 2007. "The Value-Added Tax: Its Causes and Consequences," IMF Working Papers 07/183, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
James E. Anderson, 1997. "Trade Reform with a Government Budget Constraint," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 348., Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- James E. Anderson, 1996. "Trade Reform with a Government Budget Constraint," NBER Working Papers 5827, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
John Piggott & John Whalley, 2001. "VAT Base Broadening, Self Supply, and the Informal Sector," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1084-1094, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- John Piggott & John Whalley, 1998. "VAT Base Broadening, Self Supply, and The Informal Sector," NBER Working Papers 6349, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Michael Keen, 2007. "VAT, Tariffs, and Withholding: Border Taxes and Informality in Developing Countries," IMF Working Papers 07/174, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Keen, Michael, 2008. "VAT, tariffs, and withholding: Border taxes and informality in developing countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(10-11), pages 1892-1906, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Hatzipanayotou, Panos & Michael, Michael S. & Miller, Stephen M., 1994. "Win-win indirect tax reform : A modest proposal," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(1-2), pages 147-151. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Knud Jørgen Munk, 2005. "Tax-tariff reform with costs of tax administration," Economics Working Papers 2005-21, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Knud Jørgen Munk, 2006. "Tax-tariff reform with costs of tax administration," Economics Working Papers 2006-14, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus. [Downloadable!]
- Knud Munk, 2008. "Tax-tariff reform with costs of tax administration," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer, vol. 15(6), pages 647-667, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Stephen Smith & Michael Keen, 2007. "VAT Fraud and Evasion: What Do We Know, and What Can be Done?," IMF Working Papers 07/31, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
Graham Harrison & Russell Krelove, 2005. "VAT Refunds: A Review of Country Experience," IMF Working Papers 05/218, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
Hans-Werner Sinn & Andrea Gebauer & Rüdiger Parsche, 2004. "The Ifo Institute’s Model for Reducing VAT Fraud: Payment First, Refund Later," CESifo Forum, Ifo Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 5(2), pages 30-34, October. [Downloadable!]
Newbery, David M., 1986. "On the desirability of input taxes," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 267-270. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

Bird, Richard M., 2008. "Tax challenges facing developing countries," Working Papers 08/als1, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Richard Bird, 2008. "Tax Challenges Facing Developing Countries," Working Papers Series 12, Rotman Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, revised Mar 2008. [Downloadable!]
- Richard Bird, 2008. "Tax Challenges Facing Developing Countries," International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0802, International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University. [Downloadable!]
- Richard M. Bird, 2008. "Tax Challenges Facing Developing Countries," Working Papers id:1618, esocialsciences.com. [Downloadable!]
Canegrati, Emanuele, 2007. "A Contribution to the Positive Theory of Indirect Taxation," MPRA Paper 6116, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Emanuele, Canegrati, 2007. "A Contribution to the Positive Theory of Direct Taxation," MPRA Paper 6117, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]

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