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The Distributional Effects of Indirect Tax Changes in Italy

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  • Paolo Liberati

Abstract

This paper evaluatesthe distributional and welfare effects of two recent changesof Value Added Tax (VAT) and excise taxes in Italy applying andcomparing two related and complementary methods of analysis:the first based on the distributional characteristics of Feldstein(1972) and recently applied by Newbery (1995); the second basedon the theory of marginal dominance developed by Mayshar andYitzhaki (1996). The paper finds no evidence that the reformshave redistributed purchasing power among households. But themost striking result is that a simpler two-rate VAT structure,set according to the European directives on VAT coordination,could have replaced the present system producing the same revenueand increasing welfare. This last result provides a clear instancein which reducing the number of VAT rates can be welcome evenin the presence of distributional concerns. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2001

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  • Paolo Liberati, 2001. "The Distributional Effects of Indirect Tax Changes in Italy," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 8(1), pages 27-51, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:8:y:2001:i:1:p:27-51
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1008789432330
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    6. Alessandro Santoro, 2007. "Marginal Commodity Tax Reforms: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 827-848, September.
    7. Paolo Liberati, 2000. "Did VAT change redistribute purchasing power in Italy?," Working Papers in Public Economics 40, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
    8. O'Donoghue, Cathal & Mantovani, Daniela & Baldini, Massimo, 2004. "Modelling the redistributive impact of indirect taxes in Europe: an application of EUROMOD," EUROMOD Working Papers EM7/01, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    9. Alessandra Cepparulo & Francesca Gastaldi & Paolo Liberati, 2010. "The distributional and welfare impact of inflation in Italy," Working Papers in Public Economics 134, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
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    11. Georgia Kaplanoglou, 2004. "Household Consumption Patterns, Indirect Tax Structures and Implications for Indirect Tax Harmonisation - A Three Country Perspective," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 35(1), pages 83-107.
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    14. Oya Pinar Ardic & Burcay Erus & Gurcan Soydan, 2010. "An evaluation of indirect taxes in Turkey," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 30(4), pages 2787-2801.
    15. Francesca Gastaldi & Paolo Liberati & Elena Pisano & Simone Tedeschi, 2017. "Regressivity-Reducing VAT Reforms," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 10(1), pages 39-72.
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    18. Corrado Benassi & Emanuela Randon, 2021. "The distribution of the tax burden and the income distribution: theory and empirical evidence," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 38(3), pages 1087-1108, October.

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