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Taxation of European Farmers La fiscalité des agriculteurs européens Die Besteuerung der Landwirte in Europa

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  • Berkeley Hill
  • Carmel Cahill

Abstract

Taxation of European Farmers The special treatments that farmers and landowners receive in national systems of taxation and social security are a little‐studied way in which governments are involved with agriculture and provide it with support. As policy instruments they can be an alternative to programmes that involve government expenditure. A recent OECD inventory covering taxes on income, property (annual, transfers and capital gains) and inputs (such as duty on fuel) has found that special treatments of agriculture are widespread in Europe, mostly in the form of concessions relative to the arrangements applied to other industries and occupations. They represent an accumulation of responses to particular problems, many of which have receded into history. But once in place special treatments are often difficult to remove. Agricultural concessions influence the pattern of production in the short‐term and the structure of the industry and its output in the longer term. The present inventory reveals inconsistency and contains conflicts with other policy aims. The lack of transparency and difficulty of establishing clearly what is a preferential treatment, together with important information gaps, suggests that further study and evaluation of tax concessions is required. Nevertheless, special treatment of agriculture is too important to be ignored. Les traitements spéciaux dont bénéficient les agriculteurs et les propriétaires fonciers dans tous les systèmes d'imposition ou de sécurité sociale représentent une façon peu étudiée pour les gouvernements d'établir des relations privilégiées avec l'agriculture et de lui attribuer des soutiens. En tant qu'instruments politiques, ces traitements spéciaux sont susceptibles de constituer des alternatives aux programmes impliquant des dépenses gouvernementales. Une étude récente de l'OCDE sur la fiscalité qui frappe les revenus, la propriété (qu'il s'agisse d'impôts annuels, ou de droits de mutation, ou de taxation des plus values) et les inputs (par exemple, les taxes sur les carburants) montre que ces traitements spéciaux réservés à l'agriculture sont très répandus en Europe, principalement sous forme d'avantages dont bénéfi cie le secteur agricole par rapport aux autres activités. Dans la plupart des cas, ces avantages résultent de l'accumulation de mesures prises en réponse à des problèmes réels rencontrés dans le passé, mais qui ne sont plus maintenant que des souvenirs historiques. Ils sont cependant difficiles à supprimer une fois en place. Ils influencent les plans de production dans le court terme, et la structure de l'industrie dans le long terme. L'étude révèle leurs incohérences, et souligne leurs contradictions avec d'autres objectifs politiques. Tant le manque d'information statistique que le manque de transparence et la difficulté de définir sans ambigüité ce qui est un traitement préférentiel suggèrent la nécessité d'approfondir l'étude des avantages fi scaux de l'agriculture et leur évaluation. En tout cas, la spécificité du traitement fiscal de l'agriculture est trop importante pour être ignorée. Es ist bisher wenig erforscht, wie einzelne Regierungen durch Sonderregelungen bei der Besteuerung und der staatlichen sozialen Sicherheit Landwirte und Grundbesitzer unterstützen. As politische Instrumente können diese Maßnahmen als Ersatz für Politiken mit staatlichen Ausgaben angesehen werden. Eine vor kurzem durchgeführte Bestandsaufnahme der OECD zur Einkommen‐, Vermögens‐(jährlich, bei Übertragungen und bei Kapitalerträgen) und Faktorsteuer (wie z.B. die Mineralölsteuer) ergab, dass Sonderregelungen in der Landwirtschaft innerhalb Europas hauptsächlich in Form von Vergünstigungen im Vergleich zu anderen Branchen und Berufsgruppen weit verbreitet sind. Die Sonderregelungen sind das Ergebnis von einzelnen Reaktionen auf besondere Probleme zu unterschiedlichen Zeitpunkten in der Vergangenheit. Sind die Sonderregelungen jedoch erst einmal in Kraft getreten, ist es häufig schwierig, sie wieder abzuschaffen. Vergünstigungen in der Landwirtschaft beeinflussen auf kurze Sicht die Produktion und auf lange Sicht die Agrarstruktur und die Produktionsmengen. Die vorliegende Bestandsaufnahme deckt Widersprüchlichkeiten auf und enthält Konflikte mit anderen politischen Zielen. Der Mangel an Transparenz und die Probleme einer eindeutigen Identifi zierung einer Sonderbehandlung sowie vorhandene Informationslücken erfordern eine weitere Erforschung und Bewertung von Steuervergünstigungen. Dennoch: Die Sonderregelungen in der Landwirtschaft sind viel zu wichtig und dürfen nicht ignoriert werden.

Suggested Citation

  • Berkeley Hill & Carmel Cahill, 2007. "Taxation of European Farmers La fiscalité des agriculteurs européens Die Besteuerung der Landwirte in Europa," EuroChoices, The Agricultural Economics Society, vol. 6(1), pages 44-49, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:eurcho:v:6:y:2007:i:1:p:44-49
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1746-692X.2007.00052.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Burman, Leonard E., 2003. "Is the Tax Expenditure Concept Still Relevant?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 56(3), pages 613-627, September.
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    1. Myyrä, Sami, & Pietola, Kyosti & Heikkilä, Anna-Maija, 2011. "Farm Level Capital: Capital positions, structures, the dynamics of farm level investments, capital accumulation and leverage positions," Factor Markets Working Papers 105, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    2. Ryan, M. & O'Donoghue, C., 2018. "The Importance of Fiscal measures in Financial Incentives for Land Use Decisions," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277408, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Claire G. Jack & Joan E. Moss & Michael T. Wallace, 2009. "Is Growth in Land†based Wealth Sustaining Part†time Farming?
L’augmentation de la valeur du patrimoine foncier soutient†elle l’agriculture à temps partiel ?
Fördert der Wohlstand durch ," EuroChoices, The Agricultural Economics Society, vol. 8(3), pages 29-36, December.
    4. Berkeley Hill, 2008. "Some Economics of Public Statistics," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(3), pages 387-420, September.

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