Heidelberg Congress on Taxing Consumption : Proceedings of the International Congress on Taxing Consumption, Held at Heidelberg, June 28–30, 1989

A tax reform policy aiming at a growth of prosperity requires basic guidelines. These would have to serve as a standard evaluation model for the precise assessment of the current tax system and the development of tax reform proposals. For market economies the concept of a consumption-based tax system is gaining increasing importance, especially with respect to economic efficiency. An ideal concept for reforming direct taxes would be the requirement of aligning tax bases directly to consumed income, that is, to exempt saved and invested income from taxation. The present volume contains papers dealing with the pros and cons of such a consumption-based tax system and of taxing lifetime consumption. Papers presented in this volume come from leading international scientists who discuss the tax reform under theoretical, political, legal and administrative aspects. Front Matter....Pages I-XVII Front Matter....Pages 1-1 The Superiority of a Consumption-based Tax System....Pages 3-28 On Choosing the “Correct” Tax Base — A Historical Perspective....Pages 29-42 Front Matter....Pages 43-43 The Short Run and Long Run Welfare Effects of Implementing a Practical System of Consumption Taxation....Pages 45-84 Consumption and Income Taxation: Horizontal Equity and Life Cycle Issues....Pages 85-115 Taxation of Income, Consumption, and Wages in an Open Economy....Pages 117-145 On the Specification of Simulation Models for Evaluating Income and Consumption Taxes....Pages 147-188 Front Matter....Pages 189-189 Consumption Taxation and Democratic Process....Pages 191-226 Public Choice and the Consumption Tax....Pages 227-246 Fiscal Principle, Fiscal Politics, and Consumption Taxation....Pages 247-269 Front Matter....Pages 271-271 Taxing Consumption from a Legislative Point of View....Pages 273-332 Front Matter....Pages 333-333 Administrative Advantages of the Individual Tax Prepayment Approach to the Direct Taxation of Consumption....Pages 335-389 Alternate Roads to Consumption Taxation — Administration versus Tax Structure....Pages 391-405 Administration Problems of an Expenditure Tax....Pages 407-449 Front Matter....Pages 451-451 International Coordination Problems of Substituting Consumption for Income Taxation....Pages 453-489 Problems of International Tax Coordination under Alternative Consumption Tax Regimes....Pages 491-512 Do International Tax Relations Impede a Shift towards Expenditure Taxation?....Pages 513-538 Back Matter....Pages 539-541