Reflections on the Tax Working Group Report
This article reviews the Report of the Tax Working Group of the Victoria University of Wellington, which included individuals from the Treasury and the Inland Revenue Department, as well as from the business community. The Report makes an important contribution to the tax policy debate in New Zealand by setting out the reasons for reform, the basic principles used to consider alternative policies, and the advantages and disadvantages of a range of reform proposals. The purpose of this review of the Report is not to discuss the proposals and recommendations in detail, but to consider a number of aspects concerning the evaluation of tax structures and to try to clarify some arguments which are not stated explicitly in the Report. An indication of useful next steps is also given.
The Excess Burden of Taxation
No abstract available.
The Effects on New Zealand Households of an Increase in The Petrol Excise Tax
This paper reports estimates of the potential welfare effects of hypothetical increases in the petrol excise tax in New Zealand. Equivalent variations, for a range of household types and total expenditure levels, are obtained along with distributional measures. Household demand responses are modelled using the Linear Expenditure System, where parameters vary by total expenditure level and household type. The effects on inequality were founds to be negligible, but the marginal excess burdens typically ranged between 35 and 55 cents per dollar of additional revenue.