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Indirect taxes for redistribution: should necessity goods be favored?

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  • BOADWAY, Robin

    (Queen’s University, Canada & CESifo)

  • PESTIEAU, Pierre

    (Université catholique de Louvain, CORE, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium and Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium)

Abstract

The Atkinson-Stiglitz Theorem shows that with weakly separable preferences, differential commod- ity taxes are not needed if an optimal nonlinear income tax is imposed. Redistributive objectives can be achieved with the income tax alone even if goods differ considerably in their income elasticities of demand. Deaton showed that if the government is restricted to a linear progressive income tax along with commodity taxes, the latter are superfluous if preferences are not only weakly separable but also yield linear Engel curves whose slopes are common to all households. These have potentially strong policy implications since they suggest that the common practice of giving preferential commodity tax treatment to necessities is not warranted. Using the linear progressive income tax as an example and assuming the Deaton conditions are satisfied, we derive two contradictory results. First, if the income tax is less progressive than optimal, necessities should be taxed preferentially relative to luxuries. Second, if low-income households are income-constrained so are unable to afford any luxury goods, it may be optimal to tax necessity goods at higher rates than luxuries, depending on whether labor supply varies along the intensive or extensive margin. The analysis is extended to allow for nonlinear taxes and endogenous demand for a public good.

Suggested Citation

  • BOADWAY, Robin & PESTIEAU, Pierre, 2011. "Indirect taxes for redistribution: should necessity goods be favored?," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2011066, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
  • Handle: RePEc:cor:louvco:2011066
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    Cited by:

    1. Xavier Ruiz del Portal, 2020. "Two reasons for not using commodity taxation in the presence of an optimal income tax," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 232(1), pages 9-28, March.
    2. Odd E. Nygard & John T. Revesz, 2016. "A literature review on optimal indirect taxation and the uniformity debate," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 218(3), pages 107-140, September.
    3. Bastani, Spencer & Blomquist, Sören & Micheletto, Luca, 2016. "Optimal commodity taxation with varying quality of goods," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 89-100.
    4. Boadway, Robin & Cuff, Katherine, 2022. "A generalization of the Deaton-Hellwig results on uniform commodity taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    5. Robin Boadway & Katherine Cuff, 2021. "Generalization of the Deaton Theorem: Piecewise Linear Income Taxation and Participation Decisions," CESifo Working Paper Series 9265, CESifo.
    6. Robin Boadway & Katherine Cuff, 2023. "The Case for Uniform Commodity Taxation: A Tax Reform Approach," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 244(1), pages 79-109, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    optimal income tax; Atkinson-Stiglitz Theorem; indirect taxes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies

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