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The Costs of VAT: A Review of the Literature

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  • Luca Barbone
  • Richard Bird
  • Jaime Vázquez Caro

Abstract

This paper reviews the published literature on the definition and measurement of the administrative and compliance costs of taxation, with special reference to VAT (including evasion and fraud) in the European Union.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Barbone & Richard Bird & Jaime Vázquez Caro, 2012. "The Costs of VAT: A Review of the Literature," CASE Network Reports 0106, CASE-Center for Social and Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:sec:cnrepo:0106
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Cedric Sandford, 1981. "Book Review: Costs and Benefits of VAT," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 2(2), pages 61-62, July.
    3. Wegrich, Kai, 2009. "The administrative burden reduction policy boom in Europe: comparing mechanisms of policy diffusion," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 36536, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Richard M. Bird, 2011. "Subnational Taxation In Developing Countries: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(01), pages 139-161.
    5. W. Moesen & A. persoon, 2002. "Measuring and Explaining the Productive Efficiency of Tax Offices. a Non-Parametric Best Practice Frontier Approach," Review of Business and Economic Literature, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Review of Business and Economic Literature, vol. 0(3), pages 399-416.
    6. Reckon, 2009. "Study to quantify and analyse the VAT gap in the EU-25 Member States," Taxation Studies 0029, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    7. Ernst Verwaal & Sijbren Cnossen, 2002. "Europe’s New Border Taxes," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 309-330, June.
    8. (IFS), Institute for Fiscal Studies (ed.), 2010. "Dimensions of Tax Design: The Mirrlees Review," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199553754.
    9. Áureo de Paula & Jose A. Scheinkman, 2010. "Value-Added Taxes, Chain Effects, and Informality," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 195-221, October.
    10. 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.
    11. Agha, Ali & Haughton, Jonathan, 1996. "Designing VAT Systems: Some Efficiency Considerations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 303-308, May.
    12. Bird,Richard & Gendron,Pierre-Pascal, 2011. "The VAT in Developing and Transitional Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107401440, January.
    13. Joshua Aizenman & Yothin Jinjarak, 2008. "The collection efficiency of the Value Added Tax: Theory and international evidence," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 391-410.
    14. Førsund, Finn R & Kittelsen, Sverre A.C. & Lindseth, Fode & Fjeld Edvaedsen, Dag, 2006. "The Tax Man Cometh - but is he Efficient?," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 197, pages 106-119, July.
    15. Konstantin V. Pashev, 2007. "Countering cross‐border VAT fraud: the Bulgarian experience," Journal of Financial Crime, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 14(4), pages 490-501, October.
    16. World Bank, 2010. "Integration of Revenue Administration : A Comparative Study of International Experience," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13529, December.
    17. Coolidge, Jacqueline & Ilic, Domagoj, 2009. "Tax compliance perceptions and formalization of small businesses in south Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4992, The World Bank.
    18. von Soest, Christian, 2006. "Measuring the Capability to Raise Revenue: Process and Output Dimensions and Their Application to the Zambia Revenue Authority," GIGA Working Papers 35, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    19. Lant Pritchett & Mary Hallward-Driemeier, 2010. "How Business is Done and the 'Doing Business' Indicators: The Investment Climate when Firms have Climate Control," CID Working Papers 211, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    20. Bird, Richard M. & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Torgler, Benno, 2008. "Tax Effort in Developing Countries and High Income Countries: The Impact of Corruption, Voice and Accountability," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 55-71, March.
    21. Mr. Graham Harrison & Russell Krelove, 2005. "VAT Refunds: A Review of Country Experience," IMF Working Papers 2005/218, International Monetary Fund.
    22. Hunter, William J & Nelson, Michael A, 1995. "Tax Enforcement: A Public Choice Perspective," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 82(1-2), pages 53-67, January.
    23. Laura Cavallo & Giuseppe Coco & Mario Martelli, 2009. "Evaluating administrative burdens through SCM: some indications from the Italian experience," SERIES 0023, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Apr 2009.
    24. Eichfelder, Sebastian & Schorn, Michael, 2009. "Tax compliance costs: a business administration perspective," Discussion Papers 2009/3, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    25. Andrea Gebauer & Chang Woon Nam & Rüdiger Parsche, 2003. "Is the Completion of EU Single Market Hindered by VAT Evasion?," CESifo Working Paper Series 974, CESifo.
    26. Keen, Michael & Smith, Stephen, 2006. "VAT Fraud and Evasion: What Do We Know and What Can Be Done?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 59(4), pages 861-887, December.
    27. Maja Klun, 2003. "Administrative Costs of Taxation in a Transition Country: The Case of Slovenia," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 53(1-2), pages 75-84, January.
    28. James, Simon & Edwards, Alison, 2010. "An annotated bibliography of tax compliance and tax compliance costs," MPRA Paper 26106, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sacchidananda Mukherjee & Shivani Badola, 2022. "Estimation of VAT compliance costs of unincorporated enterprises in India: unit-level analysis," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 421-441, December.
    2. Victor Ogneru & Stelian Stancu, 2022. "The impact of the VAT gap on the degree of taxation of an economy - analysis with panel data," Journal of Financial Studies, Institute of Financial Studies, vol. 12(7), pages 164-184, May.
    3. Christian Ebeke & M Mansour & Grégoire Rota-Graziosi, 2016. "The Power to Tax in Sub-Saharan Africa: LTUs, VATs, and SARAs," Working Papers halshs-01332049, HAL.
    4. Romain Houssa & Kelbesa Megersa, 2017. "Institutional quality, economic development and the performance of VAT," BeFinD Working Papers 0115, University of Namur, Department of Economics.
    5. Sijbren Cnossen, 2017. "VAT and Agriculture: Lessons from Europe," CESifo Working Paper Series 6350, CESifo.
    6. Makoto Hasegawa, 2023. "Territorial Tax Reform and Profit Shifting by US and Japanese Multinationals," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(4), pages 771-804.
    7. Giulia Mascagni & Roel Dom & Fabrizio Santoro & Denis Mukama, 2023. "The VAT in practice: equity, enforcement, and complexity," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(2), pages 525-563, April.
    8. Sijbren Cnossen, 2017. "VAT and Agriculture: Lessons from Europe," CPB Discussion Paper 341.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Neba Bhalla & Rakesh Kumar Sharma & Inderjit Kaur, 2023. "Effect of Goods and Service Tax System on Business Performance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, June.
    10. Mukherjee, Sacchidananda & Rao, R. Kavita, 2015. "Factors Influencing Unincorporated Enterprises to Register under Value Added Tax (VAT): An Analysis with Enterprises Survey Data," Working Papers 15/145, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    11. Neba Bhalla & Rakesh Kumar Sharma & Inderjit Kaur, 2022. "Effect of Tax Knowledge and Technological Shift in Tax System on Business Performance: A PLS-SEM Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    12. Sijbren Cnossen, 2017. "VAT and Agriculture: Lessons from Europe," CPB Discussion Paper 341, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    13. Sijbren Cnossen, 2018. "VAT and agriculture: lessons from Europe," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(2), pages 519-551, April.
    14. S. Vishnuhadevi, 2021. "Administrative and Compliance Costs of Value Added Tax (VAT): A Review," Review of Development and Change, , vol. 26(2), pages 179-206, December.
    15. Hana Zídková, 2014. "Determinants of VAT Gap in EU," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2014(4), pages 514-530.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Taxation; Subsidies; Revenue;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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