The motivation of this paper is two fold: (a) review the literature on design and reform of commodity taxes, (b) describe attempts at extending the traditional framework. The paper states the principal results in optimal commodity taxation with attention paid to assumptions made in their derivation. Empirical evidence on the structure of optimal commodity taxes is presented with special reference to the issue of uniformity versus selectivity, and the redistributive potential of commodity taxes. The paper, then, provides analytical and empirical evidence on the following extensions to the traditional framework: (i) presence of child subsidy and demographic effects on demand, (ii) fiscal federalism, (iii) tax evasion.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Economics
Research Group:	Applied Economics
Research Field:	Macroeconomics (incl. Monetary and Fiscal Theory)
Objective Division:	Economic Framework
Objective Group:	Microeconomics
Objective Field:	Microeconomic Effects of Taxation
Author:	Ray, R (Professor Ranjan Ray)
ID Code:	11545
Year Published:	1997
Deposited By:	Economics and Finance
Deposited On:	1997-08-01
Last Modified:	2011-08-12
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