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Tax exporting, federal deductibility, and state tax structure

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  • Gilbert E. Metcalf

    (Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics, Princeton University, and Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research)

Abstract

This paper studies the interaction between the federal and state tax systems during the 1980s and, in particular, considers how the Tax Reform Act of 1986 affected state tax structure. Using a panel data set on state governments over a nine-year period, I estimate tax share equations for six categories of taxes. I find that the state personal income tax is sensitive to changes in its tax price, but find a much smaller sensitivity to changes in tax prices for the general sales tax. I then consider various reasons why the sales tax does not exhibit a sensitivity to changes in tax price and consider the implications of these results for policymakers. The regression results suggest that different income groups are concerned with different tax instruments. Moreover, the results motivate a possible benefit approach to taxation at the state level. Linking taxes, about which a particular income group is most concerned, to services received by that group might generate additional political support for state tax systems during a time when many states are facing fiscal crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Gilbert E. Metcalf, 1993. "Tax exporting, federal deductibility, and state tax structure," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 109-126.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:12:y:1993:i:1:p:109-126
    DOI: 10.2307/3325465
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Zsolt Becsi, 1998. "Fiscal competition and reality: A time series approach," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 98-19, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    2. Lars P Feld & Friedrich Schneider, 2000. "State and local taxation," Economics working papers 2000-05, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    3. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, 1996. "Fundamental Tax Reform and State and Local Governments," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 49(3), pages 475-86, September.
    4. Inman, Robert P. & Rubinfeld, Daniel L., 1996. "Designing tax policy in federalist economies: An overview," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 307-334, June.
    5. Holtz-Eakin, Douglas, 1996. "Fundamental Tax Reform and State and Local Governments," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 49(3), pages 475-486, September.
    6. John M. Foster, 2014. "Tax Exporting and the Business Share of Sales Tax Levies," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 80-99, December.

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