How Does the Depression-Designed Retail Sales Tax Cope with the New Economy? A Tax for the New and A Tax for the Old

John Mikesell, Daniel R. Mullins and Sharon N. Kioko

National Tax Journal, 2021, vol. 74, issue 1, 187 - 220

Abstract: Retail sales taxes, critical for American government finance, embody a “narrow base, high rate” Great Depression legacy. Legislation can correct this, but technologies and new economy economic structures challenge direct state control. Structural changes focusing the tax on consumption expenditure and away from business purchases can correct the legacy problem and align the tax with new economy issues emerging from remote vendors, the sharing economy, and digital products. The future of the tax as a productive, efficient, and equitable revenue source depends on resolving structural, behavioral, and administrative threats that challenge its robustness for the old and new economic paradigm.

Date: 2021
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