Production versus Revenue Efficiency with Limited Tax Capacity: Theory and Evidence from Pakistan

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2015
Volume: 123
Issue: 6
Pages: 1311 - 1355

Authors (5)

Michael Carlos Best (Columbia University) Anne Brockmeyer (not in RePEc) Henrik Jacobsen Kleven (not in RePEc) Johannes Spinnewijn (London School of Economics (LS...) Mazhar Waseem (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.609 = (α=2.01 / 5 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

To fight evasion, many developing countries use production-inefficient tax policies. This includes minimum tax schemes whereby firms are taxed on either profits or turnover, depending on which tax liability is larger. Such schemes create nonstandard kink points, which allow for eliciting evasion responses to switches between profit and turnover taxes using a bunching approach. Using administrative data on corporations in Pakistan, we estimate that turnover taxes reduce evasion by up to 60-70 percent of corporate income. Incorporating this in a calibrated optimal tax model, we find that switching from profit to turnover taxation increases revenue by 74 percent without reducing aggregate profits.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/683849
Journal Field
General
Author Count
5
Added to Database
2026-01-24