IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/zbw/espost/170564.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is consumption-Laffer curve hump-shaped? The VAT evasion channel

Author

Listed:
  • Vasilev, Aleksandar

Abstract

This paper shows a standard RBC model, when augmented with a VAT evasion channel, where evasion depends on the consumption tax rate, can produce a hump-shaped consumption La ffer curve. Furthermore, when the evasion channel is turned off , the hump in the Laff er curve disappears, resulting in a monotone relationship between the VAT rate and both the consumption and total tax revenue. This result comes in stark contrast to Hiraga and Nutahara (2017), who generate a peaking curve for consumption tax revenue in a model with a separable utility in consumption and leisure and no evasion. Their results are contingent on implausible values for elasticity parameters, and in addition predict a revenue-maximizing consumption tax rate which is implausibly high. The paper contributes to the public fi nance literature by providing evidence for the importance of the evasion mechanism, while at the same time adding to the debate about the existence of a peak tax rate for consumption tax revenue.

Suggested Citation

  • Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2018. "Is consumption-Laffer curve hump-shaped? The VAT evasion channel," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 45(3), pages 598-609.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:170564
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/170564/1/Cons_Laffer_JES_accepted.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Konstantinos Angelopoulos & George Economides & Vanghelis Vassilatos, 2011. "Do institutions matter for economic fluctuations? Weak property rights in a business cycle model for Mexico," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(3), pages 511-531, July.
    2. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2017. "VAT Evasion in Bulgaria: A General-Equilibrium Approach," Review of Economics and Institutions, Università di Perugia, vol. 8(2).
    3. Francisca Guedes de Oliveira & Leonardo Costa, 2013. "The Vat Laffer Curve And The Business Cycle," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 02, Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
    4. Kenneth Rogoff & Anne Sibert, 1988. "Elections and Macroeconomic Policy Cycles," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 55(1), pages 1-16.
    5. Jordi Galí, 2008. "Introduction to Monetary Policy, Inflation, and the Business Cycle: An Introduction to the New Keynesian Framework," Introductory Chapters, in: Monetary Policy, Inflation, and the Business Cycle: An Introduction to the New Keynesian Framework, Princeton University Press.
    6. Arthur B. Laffer, 1981. "Government Exactions and Revenue Deficiencies," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 1(1), pages 1-21, Spring.
    7. Renzo Orsi & Davide Raggi & Francesco Turino, 2014. "Size, Trend, and Policy Implications of the Underground Economy," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 17(3), pages 417-436, July.
    8. Cukierman, Alex & Meltzer, Allan H, 1986. "A Positive Theory of Discretionary Policy, the Cost of Democratic Government and the Benefits of a Constitution," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 24(3), pages 367-388, July.
    9. 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.
    10. Hansen, Gary D., 1985. "Indivisible labor and the business cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 309-327, November.
    11. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2011. "Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9624.
    12. Hansen, Lars Peter & Singleton, Kenneth J, 1983. "Stochastic Consumption, Risk Aversion, and the Temporal Behavior of Asset Returns," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(2), pages 249-265, April.
    13. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2015. "Macroeconomic Effects of Public-Sector Unions," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(2), pages 101-126, June.
    14. Rogerson, Richard, 1988. "Indivisible labor, lotteries and equilibrium," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 3-16, January.
    15. F Guedes de Oliveira & L Costa, 2015. "The VAT Laffer Curve and the Business Cycle in the EU27: An Empirical Approach," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 20(2), pages 29-43, September.
    16. Kent Matthews, 2003. "VAT Evasion and VAT Avoidance: Is there a European Laffer curve for VAT?," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 105-114.
    17. Lukas Vogel, 2012. "Tax avoidance and fiscal limits: Laffer curves in an economy with informal sector," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 448, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    18. Celso Jose Costa Junior, 2016. "Understanding DSGE models," Vernon Press Titles in Economics, Vernon Art and Science Inc, edition 1, number 70.
    19. Renzo Orsi & Davide Raggi & Francesco Turino, 2014. "Size, Trend, and Policy Implications of the Underground Economy," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 17(3), pages 417-436, July.
    20. Trabandt, Mathias & Uhlig, Harald, 2011. "The Laffer curve revisited," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 305-327.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Damiani, Genaro Martín, 2024. "Indirect tax evasion, shadow economy, and the Laffer curve: A theoretical approach," MPRA Paper 121779, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Sorin-Constantin Deaconu & Sorin-Ciprian Teiusan, 2022. "Cases Of Limited Deductibility Value-Added Tax," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 4, pages 225-232, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2016. "Is consumption-Laffer curve hump-shaped? The role of VAT evasion," EconStor Preprints 147001, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2013. "Essays on Real Business Cycle Modeling and the Public Sector," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 130522, September.
    3. Alexandra Ferreira‐Lopes & Luís Filipe Martins & Ruben Espanhol, 2020. "The relationship between tax rates and tax revenues in eurozone member countries ‐ exploring the Laffer curve," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(2), pages 121-145, April.
    4. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2020. "Are labor unions important for business cycle fluctuations? Lessons from Bulgaria," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(1), pages 143-161, March.
    5. Pappa, Evi & Sajedi, Rana & Vella, Eugenia, 2015. "Fiscal consolidation with tax evasion and corruption," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(S1), pages 56-75.
    6. Stanisław Cichocki & Ryszard Kokoszczyński, 2016. "The evolution of the Laffer curve as a framework for studying tax evasion: from simple theoretical to DSGE models," Ekonomia journal, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw, vol. 45.
    7. Oguzhan Akgun & David Bartolini & Boris Cournède, 2017. "The capacity of governments to raise taxes," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1407, OECD Publishing.
    8. Brendan Epstein & Miles S. Kimball, 2014. "The Decline of Drudgery and the Paradox of Hard Work," International Finance Discussion Papers 1106, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    9. Jacobs, Kris, 2000. "Estimating Nonseparable Preference Specifications for Asset Market Participants," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 1472, Econometric Society.
    10. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2017. "A Real-Business-Cycle model with reciprocity in labor relations and fiscal policy: the case of Bulgaria," EconStor Preprints 156164, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    11. Smith, A. Lee, 2016. "When does the cost channel pose a challenge to inflation targeting central banks?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 471-494.
    12. Christiano, Lawrence J. & Trabandt, Mathias & Walentin, Karl, 2010. "DSGE Models for Monetary Policy Analysis," Handbook of Monetary Economics, in: Benjamin M. Friedman & Michael Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Monetary Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 7, pages 285-367, Elsevier.
    13. Mbara, Gilbert & Tyrowicz, Joanna & Kokoszczynski, Ryszard, 2020. "Striking a balance: Optimal tax policy with labor market duality," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    14. Tomoyuki Nakajima & Shuhei Takahashi, 2020. "The Effectiveness of Consumption Taxes and Transfers as Insurance Against Idiosyncratic Risk," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(2-3), pages 505-530, March.
    15. Gabriel Chodorow-Reich & Loukas Karabarbounis, 2016. "The Cyclicality of the Opportunity Cost of Employment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(6), pages 1563-1618.
    16. Lawrence J. Christiano & Michele Boldrin & Jonas D. M. Fisher, 2001. "Habit Persistence, Asset Returns, and the Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 149-166, March.
    17. Lawrence J. Christiano & Jonas D. M. Fisher, 1995. "Tobin's Q and asset returns: implications for business cycle analysis," Staff Report 200, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    18. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2018. "A Real-Business-Cycle model with reciprocity in labor relations and a government sector," Journal of Economics and Econometrics, Economics and Econometrics Society, vol. 61(2), pages 47-76.
    19. Kazuki Hiraga & Kengo Nutahara, 2019. "Fragility in modeling consumption tax revenue," CIGS Working Paper Series 19-003E, The Canon Institute for Global Studies.
    20. Shuhei Takahashi, 2020. "Time-Varying Wage Risk, Incomplete Markets, and Business Cycles," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 37, pages 195-213, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    consumption tax; VAT evasion; consumption-Laffer curve; general equilibrium; fiscal policy; Bulgaria;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D58 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Computable and Other Applied General Equilibrium Models
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:170564. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zbwkide.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.