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What Can America Learn from the British Tax System?
Author(s) -
GALE WILLIAM
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
fiscal studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1475-5890
pISSN - 0143-5671
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-5890.1997.tb00269.x
Subject(s) - economics , tax reform , value added tax , public economics , indirect tax , ad valorem tax , tax credit , state income tax , tax avoidance , capital gains tax , tax policy , income tax , equity (law) , tax deduction , corporate tax , macroeconomics , monetary economics , gross income , political science , law
This paper examines elements of British tax policy and discusses their implications for the US, where several recent proposals would mirror aspects of the British system. These include reducing filing requirements under the individual income tax, indexing capital gains for inflation, cutting mortgage interest deductions, enacting a value added tax, and integrating the corporate and personal income taxes. The paper also discusses implications of the poll tax for tax reform. Britain and America have made different choices involving equity, efficiency, simplicity and other goals. These choices offer the chance to help identify the impact of tax policy. JEL classification : H20.