This study, entitled "Value Added Tax Fairness in Samarinda City," analyzes the fairness of the 11% VAT rate under Law No. 7 of 2021 using socio-legal methods. The results show that although the single 11% VAT rate meets the principles of legality and horizontal justice because it applies equally to all consumers, this policy is not entirely fair from a vertical justice perspective. The regressive nature of the consumption tax tends to place a greater burden on low-income households. Field findings reveal that MSMEs feel burdened because the rate does not take into account their economic capacity, coupled with a lack of understanding of the input and output tax credit mechanisms. Administrative complexity and minimal education from tax authorities contribute to low compliance rates. This study recommends the implementation of a more flexible tiered VAT rate, strengthening tax education, providing technical assistance, and simplifying reporting for MSMEs to improve compliance and create more equitable tax justice.

ABSTRACT Dairy farming is faced with environmental, social and economic sustainability challenges, which call for the uptake of more sustainable farming practices. Policy schemes involving public and private sectors can support the uptake of more sustainable farming practices through the provision of incentives to farmers if designed appropriately. However, empirical research in designing such policy schemes is scarce. This paper examines dairy farmers’ preferences for policy attributes in environmental compensation schemes for more grass‐based feeding systems. Using data from a discrete choice experiment in Sweden and a hybrid latent class model, we find that while size of financial compensation matters, farmers’ likelihood of participation in grass‐based feeding schemes is also driven by how the financial compensation is designed and by non‐financial attributes of the policy schemes. Notably, we find three distinct groups of farmers who differ in their likelihood of participating and exhibit heterogeneous preferences for schemes with private versus public sector‐led implementation mode, and direct subsidy payment versus consumer price premium and tax relief. Furthermore, findings demonstrate that behavioral factors, including farmer attitudes toward different forms of compensation and risk aversion, partly explain the observed heterogeneous preferences. Overall, our findings highlight the need to accommodate preference heterogeneity in policy design to improve participation, especially in settings where the transition to more grass‐based feeding is challenging for farmers.

The introduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1 July 2017 marked a major shift in India’s indirect tax system. Before GST, businesses faced a confusing mix of central taxes (like excise duty and service tax) and state levies (VAT, entry tax, octroi, and various cesses). These overlapping taxes caused cascading costs, border delays, and administrative headaches, ultimately raising prices for everyone. GST replaced this fragmented setup with a single, destination-based consumption tax that applies uniformly across the country. The goal was simpler compliance, reduced cascading, and a truly integrated national market. A standout feature is the GST Council, where the Centre and states jointly decide rates, exemptions, and rules. This cooperative approach has strengthened federal coordination in taxation. Since rollout, GST has brought greater transparency and efficiency. The GST Network (GSTN) enables online filings, invoice matching, and better tracking, pulling many informal businesses into the formal economy. Removing state border checkpoints has sped up goods movement and lowered logistics costs. Revenue trends have been encouraging overall. Using principles from public finance theory alongside empirical revenue trends and institutional evaluation, the paper assesses whether GST has strengthened revenue generation, enhanced fiscal responsiveness, and contributed to long-term financial sustainability at the state level. Nationally, collections have grown steadily with a wider tax base, even after some rate rationalisations. For Uttar Pradesh, a large and diverse state, GST has supported rising own-tax revenue, reduced dependence on central transfers, and driven a surge in registrations often topping the country in new enrolments in recent months. Monthly collections frequently rank among the highest, reflecting stronger economic formalisation and activity. Still, challenges persist. Small businesses in UP and elsewhere find compliance burdensome monthly filings, tech requirements, and complex rules hit micro-enterprises hard. Early portal glitches frustrated users, and debates over revenue sharing and state fiscal autonomy continue. Overall, GST has created a more streamlined, transparent, and integrated indirect tax framework. It has boosted revenue mobilisation, eased inter-state trade, and laid the foundation for a national common market. For Uttar Pradesh, it has contributed to better fiscal performance and economic formalisation. Long-term success, however, depends on simplifying processes for small players, improving technology, and maintaining strong Centre-state cooperation.

Consumption Tax and Corporate Product Mix Decisions

Positional consumption is spending valued mainly for relative standing rather than intrinsic usefulness. A progressive consumption tax can, in principle, reduce the social costs of status-driven spending by taxing consumption rather than saving, but it may face resistance. We examine a behavioral evaluation channel in which status quo bias and loss aversion can sustain positional consumption and reduce support for this reform. We combine a fully specified, reproducible in silico simulation of tax acceptance with a real-participant gain–loss questionnaire that benchmarks positional-choice patterns under matched items. In grouped fractional-response estimates from the simulated data, the post-condition increases predicted acceptance from about 0.11 to about 0.22 and is statistically significant (p < 0.001), while higher status quo and loss-aversion proxy intensity predicts lower acceptance and is statistically significant (p < 0.001). Policy framing increases predicted acceptance relative to the Neutral frame. In the questionnaire, loss framing shifts choices toward absolute outcomes relative to gain framing, consistent with attenuated positional motives. The framework provides a transparent way to stress test how framing and bundled communication and comprehension supports can shift acceptance of progressive consumption taxation under stated assumptions.

This study aims to analyze the implications of Indonesia’s fiscal decentralization system on the taxation of food and beverage consumption in the era of digital economy transformation, particularly through online food delivery platforms. The rapid development of the digital economy has shifted traditional consumption behavior toward digital transactions, creating new business models such as Ghost Kitchen or Cloud Kitchen. This phenomenon challenges the existing tax system, especially the division of taxing authority between the central and local governments, namely, the value added tax (VAT) at 11% and local tax on certain goods and services (PBJT) at 10%. The research employs a descriptive qualitative method using content analysis of Indonesian tax regulations related to food and beverage consumption taxation. The findings show that digital business models have blurred administrative boundaries, complicating the determination of tax jurisdiction and resulting in overlaps between VAT and PBJT objects. This overlap causes potential revenue leakage, double taxation, and distortion in consumption decisions, as taxpayers may prefer the lower tax rate. The study highlights the need for policy harmonization that maintains tax neutrality while accommodating technological disruption. The results are expected to contribute to the formulation of a more integrated tax policy between central and local governments, ensuring fair and efficient revenue allocation in Indonesia’s evolving digital economy.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been one of India’s most ambitious economic reforms, aimed at unifying the domestic market, simplifying indirect taxation, and improving ease of doing business. Since its introduction in 2017, GST has undergone several rounds of rationalisation. A landmark step in this evolution came in September 2025, when the Government of India announced a significant reduction and simplification of GST rates across a wide range of goods and services. These reforms, described by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) as “Next- Generation GST Reforms,” introduced simplified slabs of 5% and 18% for most products, eliminated GST on several essentials, and simultaneously imposed a new 40% levy on ultra-luxury goods and services. The dual objective of this reform package was clear: to lower household expenses and stimulate consumption while ensuring fiscal resources for social welfare through higher taxation of luxury consumption. Among the most impactful outcomes of these changes has been the reduction of GST on solar energy equipment from 12% to 5%, a move that has major implications for renewable energy adoption, particularly in solar-rich states like Rajasthan. This essay examines the broader GST reforms of 2025, their sectoral impacts, and their specific implications for solar affordability and clean energy transition in Rajasthan, supported by relevant literature.

ABSTRACT During the COVID‐19 pandemic, states imposed restrictions intended to slow the spread of the virus. We investigate whether states' reliance on consumption tax revenue, relative to other tax revenue sources, is associated with the duration of COVID‐19 mobility restrictions. We find that states that are more dependent on consumption taxes experienced shorter durations of stay‐at‐home orders, restaurant closures, and bar closures. We conduct a series of analyses to mitigate concerns that state‐level political preferences and biases may be influencing our findings. Our findings suggest that anticipated shortfalls in consumption tax revenue may have shaped public health responses, consistent with tax system structures relating, unintentionally, to crisis management decisions.

ABSTRACT This study proposes a systematic policy framework that leverages special tax measures to steer stakeholder behavior toward urban cultural heritage conservation. Integrating comparative policy analysis, microeconomic modeling, systematic policy framework construction and case studies from China, we design a synergistic system of tax incentives and disincentives across income, consumption, and property taxes. The framework is contextualized within China’s forthcoming Cultural Heritage Conservation Law and demonstrates how fiscal instruments can align individual economic rationality with collective conservation goals. A three-stage decision model – grounded in Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) – is introduced to assess the suitability, necessity, and balancing of tax interventions. Based on the analysis of secondary sources and policy documents, empirical case studies in Suzhou and Tianshui are used to illustrate the framework’s efficacy and limitations. The findings offer a transferable model for sustainable urban governance, with relevance for rapidly urbanizing regions globally.

This technical assistance report responds to Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance request to support the development of a comprehensive framework for assessing tax expenditures. The report finds that Cambodia’s tax expenditures are widespread, costly, and largely unreported, with preliminary estimates pointing to sizeable fiscal cost. The assessment covers four major taxes—Personal Income Tax, Business Income Tax, Value Added Tax, and Specific Taxes (excises)—and recommends establishing clear benchmark tax systems, improving data quality, and institutionalizing regular tax expenditure reporting integrated into the budget process. The report emphasizes prioritizing capacity building, developing microsimulation models, and focusing evaluation efforts on the costliest tax expenditures to enhance transparency, fiscal discipline, and revenue mobilization.

This technical assistance report responds to the Republic of Serbia’s request for a comprehensive framework to report tax expenditures across the personal income tax (PIT), corporate income tax (CIT), and value-added tax (VAT). It defines benchmark tax systems for these three major taxes, outlines methodologies for estimating associated tax expenditures, and provides preliminary results. The analysis shows that VAT-related tax expenditures represent the largest fiscal cost, followed by PIT and CIT. VAT benefits are disproportionately captured by higher-consumption households, while CIT benefits are heavily concentrated among a small number of large firms. The report recommends institutionalizing regular tax expenditure reporting, improving data governance and inter-agency coordination, and strengthening capacity for microsimulation modeling to support ongoing fiscal analysis and enhance transparency.

Djibouti’s low and declining tax-to-GDP ratio underscores the need for well-designed tax policy reforms. Against this backdrop, the authorities requested capacity development support from the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department to identify reform options and priorities. The program focuses on income taxes, value-added taxes, and property taxes, and includes technical training on the estimation and reporting of tax expenditures.

This paper assesses the distributional impact of tax and expenditure policies in Comoros using a microsimulation framework based on the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) methodology and household survey data. It evaluates key revenue-raising reforms under the IMF Extended Credit Facility and post-WTO accession, including tax base broadening, the removal of tax expenditures, and changes in border taxation. The analysis also examines the incidence of fuel subsidies. Results show that while proposed reforms effectively increase revenues, their impact on inequality is limited. Tax exemptions and fuel subsidies are found to be regressive, disproportionately benefiting higher-income households, highlighting the need for better-targeted redistribution mechanisms.

ABSTRACT South Africa is one of the most unequal economies globally. In this paper, we examine the design of its personal income tax (PIT), with a focus on its redistributive function. We apply the Pfähler decomposition method to analyse the redistributive effects of key components of the South African PIT system, including the marginal tax rate schedule, the definition of gross taxable income and the provision of tax deductions and tax credits. Our findings highlight that the marginal tax rate schedule is the primary driver of redistribution, while tax expenditures often favour higher income individuals, resulting in adverse redistributive effects. Additionally, we assess how recent changes to the PIT schedule have influenced redistribution. Among others, we show that below‐inflation adjustments of marginal tax thresholds reduced progressivity. We conclude by discussing policy options to enhance the redistributive capacity of South Africa's PIT system.

Abstract Brazil’s tax reform, established by Constitutional Amendment 132/2023 and regulated by Complementary Law 214/2025, modernizes its fiscal structure but fails to establish a cohesive strategy for the intangible economy. Through a normative-legal and policy analysis, this article examines how the omission of an IP box regime and the introduction of new consumption tax burdens (Imposto sobre Bens e Serviços/Contribuição sobre Bens e Serviços) on IP commercialization affect the capture of IP value, location of intangibles and innovation incentives. Drawing on the economic framework for intangible capital, our analysis finds that the reform creates a severe misalignment between innovation policy and taxation. Sectoral asymmetries, such as preserving constitutional immunity for the book industry while increasing taxes for high-growth sectors like electronic games, weaken IP incentives and Brazil’s international competitiveness, exacerbating existing policy challenges for the intangible economy.

Brazilian Tax Law system has suffered considerable transformations in the last years. Among them, without any doubt, deserves attention the tax reform approved by the enactment of Constitutional Amendment number 132/2023, which opened a new chapter in the history of both tax and financial federalism, regarding consumption taxation. Targeting simplicity, neutrality, legal security and other values brought by the tax reform, States and Municipalities lose respectively their ICMS and ISS taxes but, in return, are granted with the IBS that absorb both. The new IBS tax will be collected, audited, managed and its trillionaire yield will be shared between federative entities by the Management Committee (PLP 108/2024), which will be composed by the same number of State and Municipal representatives (27). However, the 5570 Municipalities declared war against each other, claiming the very valuable seats on the Management Committee and, up to now, the deadlock persists. The States, instead of helping to solve this conflict, saw on it an opportunity and simply implemented the Management Committee only with their representatives and already had chosen its President on their own. Even before crawling, a huge wound was open in the new Brazilian fiscal federalism, which if not healed immediately, it can gangrene and make it lose one leg, producing priceless depletory consequences to the Country. This paper seeks, considering its limitations, to contribute to the healing of this evil.

ABSTRACT When prices are expected to rise, consumers are incentivized to engage in intertemporal substitution. This effect tends to be larger for longer‐term storable goods, because consumers stockpile these goods for future consumption. Using Japan's consumption tax hike in 2014, I examine consumers' purchasing behavior and find the following. First, price‐sensitive consumers significantly increased purchases of storable goods before the tax hike, but not purchases of less storable goods. Second, consumers frequently buying lower‐quality goods increased purchases of storable goods, while reducing purchases of less storable goods. These purchasing patterns suggest that some consumers faced liquidity constraints and prioritized purchases of long‐term storable goods over short‐term storable goods. By characterizing a discontinuity in consumers' purchasing patterns, I estimate the proportion of liquidity constrained consumers.

Changes in modern consumption patterns, characterized by increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), contribute to the rise in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases, particularly obesity and diabetes mellitus. This situation calls for effective public health policy interventions, one of which is the implementation of SSB taxation. This study aims to examine the PSB tax policy as a government instrument to reduce excessive sugar consumption and reduce the risk of related diseases. This study uses a literature review approach with a descriptive-analytical method. Data sources were obtained from national and international journal articles, World Health Organization reports, and government policy documents relevant to sugar consumption, non-communicable diseases, and PSB tax policies. The analysis was conducted through literature selection, grouping of main themes, synthesis of findings, and comparison of policy implementation in various contexts. The results of the study show that MBDK consumption plays a significant role in increasing daily sugar intake and the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The application of MBDK excise tax has been proven to reduce the consumption of sugary drinks, encourage product reformulation by industry, and has the potential to reduce sugar exposure at the population level. However, the effectiveness of the policy is greatly influenced by the excise tariff design, product coverage, and integration with supporting policies such as nutrition education and food labeling. The literature also identifies a number of challenges, including industry resistance, the potential for regressive effects on low-income groups, and limited effectiveness if not accompanied by complementary policies. Therefore, a comprehensive, evidence-based policy approach supported by continuous monitoring and evaluation mechanisms is needed for MBDK taxes to function optimally as a public health instrument. Keywords: SSB-PF taxation, sugar-sweetened beverages, diabetes, obesity, health policy, fiscal intervention

Throughout the United States, animal shelters have become increasingly overpopulated because of a rise in surrenders, fueled by macroeconomic inflation and housing scarcity, and a decline in adoptions. Consequently, euthanasia rates for dogs and cats have skyrocketed. In response to this issue, at least five states have introduced and considered bills over the past ten years that would incentivize the adoption of dogs and cats from shelters using tax credits or deductions, with New York being the most recent in 2025. The issue with this approach, however, lies in the multifaceted nature of the overpopulation and euthanasia crisis, and the difficulty in solving the issue through individual taxpayer behavior. This Note argues that, as currently proposed, the use of tax credits to encourage adoption would be unsuccessful given it fails to address the continuing costs of ownership that have caused an increase in surrenders. This Note instead suggests that a refundable tax credit would be the most viable pathway to a lasting solution of any tax expenditure, but that ultimately targeted direct spending, not tax expenditures, is the proper means of bringing about substantive change.

Abstract After the 18th CPC National Congress, Chinese government should speed up tax reform and tax reduction. Tax structure should switch to direct tax. Consumption tax reform of lower tax burden could start within short time. Replacing business tax by value-added tax should be quickly completed. Individual income tax reform should move toward comprehension. Uneven resource distribution should be taken into consideration in resource tax reform. Property tax should be included in the local financing service, and tax rate must be lower than other nation imposing private property rights. Looking at the long term, export should reinstate to zero export rate regime.