Abstract. Consumption tans of various forms are of increasing inqxirtance worldwide. This study employs a laboratory market design to investigate differential market reactions to three consumption tax forms while holding all other factors constant. Ten laboratory markets were conducted, eacta invohrmg nine volunteer partidpants. Market partidpants were randomly assigned to rotes analogous to wholesalers, retailers, or consumers of a market gcxxl. The three tax forms were (1) a sales tax inqxned on retail consumers of a commcxlity, (2) a gross-receipts tax imposed on retail sellers, and (3) a value-added tax imposed on sellers at two levels of prcxlucticm. At least three niarkets were conducted under each tax regime as a basis for experimental comparison. The tax rates used in eadi structure were chosen so that a conipetitive model would predict different equilibrium prices but the same tax burdens (the sum of e]q)lidt and inq>lidt taxes) across the three tax regimes. Results general^ support these predictions, with somewhat stronger suppon for equivalent tax revenues (explidt taxes collected) than for equiv&nt tax inddence (distribution of tax burdens after price adjustments). Observed tax inddence differences suggest that market agents who are called upon to explidtly pay taxes actually bear relatively lower tax burdens after inqilidt tax price adjustments. In general, however, price diifting is conastent with the conqwtitive mcxlel, supporting the economic dictum that the c±oke among allemative designations of taxpaying agents is more a question of form than of economic substancse. Governments have increasingly turned to the adoption of new consumption taxes to meet their revenue needs. Acconq)anying this trend has been an increasing interest in the effects of alternative consumption tax forms. In Canada, for example, the manufacturers' sales tax was replaced in 1991 by a broader goods and services tax, following the lead of value-added taxes widely used in Europe since the late 1960s. In addition to Canada, new consuiiq>tion taxes have been recently implemented in other nonEuropean countries, including New Zealand and Japan. In the United States, the possibility of a national consumption tax has fueled debate for several years, continuing unabated to the present day.^ As with Canada, the worldwide debate often centers upon possible differences among alternative consumption tax forms (e.g., Whalley and Fretz 1990; Due 1990; Brashares, Speyrer, and Carlson 1988; Makin 198S). Differences in tax rates, tax bases, and conqdiance can result in substantive differences between alternative tax forms. However, as explained later, economic theory predicts that under ceteris paribus conditions, the form of a consumption tax in tertns of alternative designations oi taiqnying ageot(s) shoukl not affect the distribution of relative tax burdens. This prediction results from the consideration of both explidt taxes remitted to a taxpaying authority and implidt taxes borne through market price adjustments.
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