From Income Tax to Consumption Tax? The Case of Jamaica

Roy Bahl () and Sally Wallace

International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU from International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University

Abstract: Over the past decade, a number of countries have shifted to single rate tax systems with broader bases and lower rates. In the U.S. , there continues to be discussion of the merits of a consumption tax, and of base-broadening reforms to the income tax system. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how, over time, a conventional income tax could be converted to a flat rate consumption tax in a developing country. The value of this analysis, we hope, comes with the use of a real world situation ( Jamaica ), which allows us to focus on the detail that determines the feasibility of transitioning to a flat rate tax on consumption. Our main contribution is to show the conditions under which the switch can be revenue neutral.

Keywords: Income Tax; Consumption Tax; Jamaica; Jamaica tax system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2007-06-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pbe and nep-pub
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Journal Article: From Income Tax to Consumption Tax?. The Case of Jamaica (2007)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0712

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