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This paper seeks to explain differences in policy outcomes even when political institutions remain unchanged over time. It studies the making of Ghana's most important fiscal policy after its transition to democracy in 1993. This study focuses on the making of the Value Added Tax (VAT) policy at two different time periods. In spite of unchanging political institutions, each episode, in 1995 and 1998, had a different outcome. This paper explores the extent to which the preferences of institutional actors can account for policy changes under the constraints and opportunities created by those same political institutions within the policymaking process. The paper employs George Tsebelis' veto player theory, which emanates from the rational choice institutionalist school and argues that, when political institutions remain unchanged over time, changes in veto players' preferences can account for changes in the policy outcome of the VAT.

Value Added Tax (TAX) is a consumption tax chargeable on the value added to a product in the process of production. Like all other indirect taxes, it is a tax that targets the final consumer of goods and services. The purpose of VAT in Nigeria is to increase governments' (federal, state and local) revenue from non-oil sector thereby reducing the government's dependence on oil revenue majorly. This study evaluates the effect of VAT on Estate Surveyors and Valuers practice and their clients. Based on secondary data and personal interviews with eight principal partners of Estate Surveyors and Valuers firms in Ikeja axis of the Lagos metropolis, the study revealed that VAT has a significant effect on the spendable income accruable to the clients of the practising Estate Surveyors and Valuers and by extension the income of the Estate Surveying and Valuation firms since these clients often see the firms as the agents of government being the channels through which government collect VAT on the services they render to clients. The study recommends adequate enlightenment of property owners and by extension all whose goods and services are VATable.

This article analyzes the definitions of the main taxable events for the Value-Added Tax (VAT) based on a comparative approach to thelegislation of different countries (Spain, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Peru). In this regard, it analyzes which legislations offer definitions according to the principles of generality, fiscal neutrality and legal certainty for VAT. Moreover, it points out that the VAT systems of those countries do not require as a condition for the configuration of the taxable events that the transactions involve a «value added» or a final consumption. In the specificcase of «supplies of goods», the VAT systems have a similar definition of the taxable event, although there are a few differences. However, in the case of«supplies of services», which is the most important taxable event for VAT, there are important differences at the time each country defines it. This is not a desirable effect for the international trade of services, since the lack of harmonization produces double taxation or double non taxation. ; El trabajo aborda la definición de los hechos gravados principalesen el Impuesto al Valor Agregado (IVA) en el derecho comparado (España, México, Chile, Colombia, Argentina y Perú), evaluando qué legislaciones proponen una definición conforme a los principios de generalidad, deneutralidad y de seguridad jurídica. Destaca que ninguna de las legislaciones exige como condición para la configuración de los hechos gravados que setrate de transacciones que generen «valor agregado» o que se trate de bienes o servicios susceptibles de consumo final. En el caso de la venta de bienes muebles, hay coincidencia en la definición del hecho gravado, aunque con matices de diferencia. En cambio, en la definición de servicios, que es la hipótesis más importante del impuesto, hay grandes diferencias entre las legislaciones. Ello definitivamente no es deseable, considerando el comercio internacional de servicios, por cuanto la falta de armonización produce fenómenos de doble imposición y doble no imposición.

"This book explores one of the most significant trends in the evolution of global tax systems by asking how, within less than half a century, the value-added tax (VAT) has risen from relative obscurity to become one of the world's most dominant revenue instruments. Despite its significance, very little is known about why so many countries have adopted the VAT and, in particular, why different countries adopt the types of VAT that they do. The popular mythology provides that the merits of the VAT have underpinned its global spread; however, this book contends that much scholarship confuses the question of why the VAT has risen to dominance with the issue of what makes a good VAT. This book combines policy and legal analysis to propose a new way of understanding the rise of this important revenue instrument so as to better reflect the realities of the VATs that are actually implemented"--

In order to alleviate unemployment it is often recommended to reduce social security contributions (SSC) and to compensate for the ensuing loss in revenues by a rise in the value-added tax (VAT). Assuming unemployment to be caused by efficiency wages, it is shown that a balanced-budget shift from a payroll tax to a VAT will increase employment if the rise in the VAT does not alter consumer prices. If the effects of a shift from SSC to the VAT on the worker's effort are neutralised, for example, by imposing a constant wedge, the employment impact will depend on the nature of the unemployment compensation system.

This book integrates legal, economic, and administrative materials about the value added tax (VAT) to present the only comparative approach to the study of VAT law. The comparative presentation of this volume offers an analysis of policy issues relating to tax structure and tax base as well as insights into how cases arising out of VAT disputes have been resolved. Its principal purpose is to provide comprehensive teaching tools - laws, cases, analytical exercises, and questions drawn from the experience of countries and organizations around the world. This second edition includes new VAT-related developments in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia and adds new chapters on VAT avoidance and evasion and on China's VAT. Designed to illustrate, analyze, and explain the principal theoretical and operating features of value added taxes, including their adoption and implementation, this book will be an invaluable resource for tax practitioners and government officials

Almost unknown in 1960, the value added tax (VAT) is now found in more than 130 countries, raises around 20 percent of the world's tax revenue, and has been the centerpiece of tax reform in many developing countries. This paper explores the causes and consequences of the remarkable rise of the VAT. A key question is whether it has indeed proved, as its proponents claim, an especially effective form of taxation. To address this, it is first shown that a tax innovation—such as the introduction of a VAT—reduces the marginal cost of public funds if and only if it also leads an optimizing government to increase the tax ratio. This observation leads to the estimation, on a panel of 143 countries for 25 years, of a system of equations describing both the probability of VAT adoption and the revenue impact of the VAT. The results point to a rich set of determinants of VAT adoption, this being more likely, for example, if a country has a program with the IMF and the less open it is to international trade. In the revenue equation, the presence of a VAT does indeed have a significant impact, but also a complex one, with a negative intercept effect counteracted by positive effects that are greater the higher are per capita income and, more tentatively, openness. While the sign of the revenue impact of the VAT is thus in general ambiguous, most countries that have adopted a VAT seem to have gained a more effective tax instrument in doing so (though this is less apparent in sub- Saharan Africa), and most without it seem likely to gain from its adoption.

AbstractInnovation is crucial for technological progress and economic development. Using the value‐added tax (VAT) reform in China as a policy shock, this study explores whether tax incentives are beneficial in promoting corporate innovation. We find that the VAT reform has a significant positive impact on corporate innovation, and the finding holds under a series of robustness checks. Mechanism analysis suggests that the VAT reform promotes firms' innovation activities mainly by alleviating financing constraints and amplifying research and development intensity. This study offers policy implications for using tax policies to stimulate corporate innovation.

Has the VAT proved, as its proponents claim, an especially effective form of taxation? To address this, this paper first shows that a tax innovation-such as the introduction of a VAT- reduces the marginal cost of public funds if and only if it also leads an optimizing government to increase the tax ratio. This leads to the estimation, on a large panel, of a system of equations describing the probability of VAT adoption and the revenue impact of the VAT. The sign of the revenue impact is generally ambiguous, but most countries that have adopted a VAT seem to have gained a more effective tax ins

The aim of the article is to analyse the process of harmonizing the value added tax (VAT) in the European Union, and in particular the factors behind the decision to build a common VAT system based on the country of destination principle instead of, as initially assumed, the country of origin principle. Characterizing the conditions in which this change in approach
took place, the specifi c features of public fi nances of these countries were presented, in particular the relation of public expenditure as well as the general level of taxation to GDP. Large differences between EU Member States in this area are one of the main factors making these countries not agree to resign from their sovereignty in shaping taxes. This, in turn, affects the direction and possibilities of the tax harmonization process in the Union, including in the fi eld of VAT. The transitional VAT system operating in the EU since 1993 has been pragmatically adapted to the needs arising from the development of intra-EU trade. Its transformation planned in 2022 to become a new definitive system based on the country of destination principle requires the support of Member States for major legislative changes necessary for its implementation.