A quantitative measurement of policy options to inform value added tax reform in South Africa
III CONTENTS IV LIST OF FIGURES X LIST OF TABLES XIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS XVI CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 BACKGROUND 1 1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 9 1.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 11 CHAPTER 2: THE STRUCTURE OF A GOOD VAT 12 2.1 THE UNDERLYING FORM OF TAXATION 12 2.1.1 Taxation the large pile of sand 13 2.1.1.1 Research in taxation 17 2.1.1.2 Economic bases of taxation 18 2.1.1.3 Types of taxes 22 2.1.1.4 Canons of taxation 24 2.2 THE STRUCTURE OF A GOOD VAT. 32 2.2.1 The origin of the VAT 32 2.2.2 The development of the VAT 34 2.2.3 The structure of a good VAT 35 2.2.3.1 The main aim of the VAT ought to be revenue 35 2.2.3.2 Tax consumption, not production 47 2.2.3.3 Apply to the broadest base possible 50 2.2.3.4 Apply a single non zero rate 78