IMF Working Papers

Macroeconomic Effects of Tax Rate and Base Changes: Evidence from Fiscal Consolidations

By Era Dabla-Norris, Frederico Lima

September 28, 2018

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Era Dabla-Norris, and Frederico Lima. Macroeconomic Effects of Tax Rate and Base Changes: Evidence from Fiscal Consolidations, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2018) accessed November 12, 2024

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Summary

This paper examines the macroeconomic effects of tax changes during fiscal consolidations. We build a new narrative dataset of tax changes during fiscal consolidation years, containing detailed information on the expected revenue impact, motivation, and announcement and implementation dates of nearly 2,500 tax measures across 10 OECD countries. We analyze the macroeconomic impact of tax changes, distinguishing between tax rate and tax base changes, and further separating between changes in personal income, corporate income, and value added tax. Our results suggest that base broadening during fiscal consolidations leads to smaller output and employment declines compared to rate hikes, even when distinguishing between tax types.

Subject: Corporate income tax, Economic sectors, Expenditure, Financial crises, Personal income tax, Revenue administration, Taxes, Value-added tax

Keywords: Corporate income tax, Debt ratio, Estimated tax, Global, Narrative dataset, Personal income tax, Southern Europe, Tax base, Tax measure, Tax multiplier, Tax multipliers, Tax rate, Tax shock, Value-added tax

Publication Details

  • Pages:

    47

  • Volume:

    ---

  • DOI:

    ---

  • Issue:

    ---

  • Series:

    Working Paper No. 2018/220

  • Stock No:

    WPIEA2018220

  • ISBN:

    9781484377451

  • ISSN:

    1018-5941