COMMODITY TAX STRUCTURE AND INFORMAL ACTIVITY
In: Bulletin of economic research, Band 61, Heft 3, S. 283-294
ISSN: 1467-8586
ABSTRACTCommodity tax structure affects the firm's choice between formality and informality. An increase in the specific tax rate, relative to an equivalent increase in ad valorem taxation, makes informality attractive to more firms. Formality becomes attractive at lower levels of profits under ad valorem taxation. For both the maximization of welfare subject to a revenue constraint and the unconstrained maximization of revenue, the optimal rate of specific taxation is zero.