The evolution of tax structures

James Alt

Public Choice, 1983, vol. 41, issue 1, 222 pages

Abstract: Certain themes recur throughout this paper. The traditional account of the evolution of tax structures through the interaction of increasing efficiency and the claims of special interests plays a role but is not the whole story. Different taxes create tradeoffs between the costs of administration and compliance. Specification of these costs creates a framework in which long-term trends like the growth and centralization of revenues and the increasing dependence on direct taxation can be understood. This framework applies to observable collective decisions to alter tax structures. Uncertainty about ultimate incidence plays a major role in such decisions. It also applies to the decentralized context of adjustment and resistance. This framework can be used to investigate the extent of redistribution within tax systems and of the requirement of frequent reforms to sustain redistribution against resistance. The simultaneous consideration of economic and political aspects of taxation can only improve future research. Copyright Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 1983

Date: 1983
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DOI: 10.1007/BF00124058

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