Tax shift or Tax swap is a change in taxation that eliminates or reduces one or several taxes and establishes or increases others while keeping the overall revenue the same.[1] The term can refer to desired shifts, such as towards Pigovian taxes (typically sin taxes and ecotaxes) as well as (perceived or real) undesired shifts, such as a shift from multi-state corporations to small businesses and families.[2] The following table lists tax shifts that have been proposed or introduced:
| Name, location, proponent, source | From | To | Claimed benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green tax shift (see ecotax) | various | ecotax | environment |
| Tax Shift for the Pacific Northwest (Durning & Baumann 1998) | personal, corporate income tax, payroll tax, property tax, sales tax | carbon tax, pollution tax, traffic tax, sprawl tax (Land value tax), resource consumption tax | environment; public health; reduction of gridlock; countering
speculation; equity; administrative ease |
| Property tax shift (PTS)[3] | sales, income, and buildings | Land value tax | housing supply; sprawl; equity |
| Philadelphians for Land Value Tax Shift[4] | tax rates on structures | land-value tax | economic development, countering speculation |
| Illinois[5] | property tax | individual and corporate income tax | |
| Mississippi[6][7],
Tennessee[8] |
Grocery or food tax | cigarette tax | public health; support for basic needs |
| Wyoming Tax Swap[9] | sales tax, use tax, and business personal property tax | flat income tax | |
| FairTax | personal income tax, payroll tax, corporate tax, capital gains tax, self-employment tax, gift tax, estate tax | national retail sales tax with rebate | provide tax burden visibility; reduce compliance costs; global competitiveness |
Contents |
Other uses
Tax swap can also refer to the sale of a security that has declined in price since its purchase and the simultaneous purchase of a similar but not identical security, in order to realize a loss for tax purposes while maintaining a position.[10]
See also
References
- Alan Thein Durning, Yoram Baumann (1998). Tax Shift, Seattle, Washington: Northwest Environment Watch. ISBN 1-886093-07-5.
External links
- A Distributional Analysis of an Environmental Tax Shift
- Tax Cuts vs. Tax Shifts
- Making an Energy Tax Work for Business (in the UK)
- Sharing the Wealth (a web site opposing what they perceive as a tax shift)
