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Taxation for the 21st Century: The Automated Payment Transaction (APT) Tax

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Author Info
Edgar L. Feige (The University of Wisconsin-Madison)

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Abstract

This paper examines the desirability and feasibility of replacing the present system of personal and corporate income, sales, excise, capital gains, import and export duties, gift and estate taxes with a single comprehensive revenue neutral Automated Payment Transaction (APT) tax. In its simplest form, the APT tax consists of a flat tax levied on all transactions. The tax is automatically assessed and collected when transactions are settled through the electronic technology of the banking/ payments system. The APT tax introduces progressivity through the tax base since the volume of final payments includes exchanges of titles to property and is therefore more highly skewed than the conventional income or consumption tax base. The wealthy carry out a disproportionate share of total transactions and therefore bear a disproportionate burden of the tax despite its flat rate structure. The automated recording of all APT tax payments by firms and individuals creates a degree of transparency and perceived fairness that induces greater tax compliance. Also, the tax has lower administrative and compliance cost. Like all taxes, the APT tax creates new distortions whose costs must be weighted against the benefits obtained by replacing the current tax system. ---Edgar L. Feige

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Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Public Economics with number 0106001.

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Date of creation: 06 Jun 2001
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Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwppe:0106001

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Related research
Keywords: tax reform; APT tax; tobin tax; electric money; transaction tax; flat tax; security transaction tax; globalization; fiscal harmonization; underground economy; automated payment system; elimination of tax returns; compliance costs.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
H - Public Economics

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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.:
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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.)

  1. Patrick Honohan, 2003. "Alternative Approaches to Taxing the Financial Sector: Which is Best and Where Does Chile Stand?," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 225, Central Bank of Chile. [Downloadable!]
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