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The fiscal response to Covid-19: 'Thinking big' on tax policy after the crisis

针对 Covid-19 的财政应对措施：危机后对税收政策进行“大思考”

基本信息

批准号：
ES/V012657/1
负责人：
Andrew Summers
金额：
$ 13.62万
依托单位：
London School of Economics and Political Science
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2020 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FV012657%2F1
关键词：
fiscal response Covid 19 Thinking

项目摘要

Around the world, the unprecedented public spending required to tackle COVID-19 will inevitably be followed by a debate about how to rebuild public finances. At the same time, politicians in many countries are already facing far-reaching questions from their electorates about the widening cracks in the social fabric that this pandemic has exposed, as prior inequalities become amplified and public services are stretched to their limits. These simultaneous shocks to national politics inevitably encourage people to 'think big' on tax policy.Even before the current crisis there were widespread calls for reforms to the taxation of wealth in the UK. These proposals have so far focused on reforming existing taxes. However, other countries have begun to raise the idea of introducing a 'wealth tax'-a new tax on ownership of wealth (net of debt). COVID-19 has rapidly pushed this idea higher up political agendas around the world, but existing studies fall a long way short of providing policymakers with a comprehensive blueprint for whether and how to introduce a wealth tax.Critics point to a number of legitimate issues that would need to be addressed. Would it be fair, and would the public support it? Is this type of tax justified from an economic perspective? How would you stop the wealthiest from hiding their assets? Will they all simply leave? How can you value some assets? What happens to people who own lots of wealth, but have little income with which to pay a wealth tax? And if wealth taxes are such a good idea, why have many countries abandoned them?These are important questions, without straightforward answers. The UK government last considered a wealth tax in the mid-1970s. This was also the last time that academics and policymakers in the UK thought seriously about how such a tax could be implemented. Over the past half century, much has changed in the mobility of people, the structure of our tax system, the availability of data, and the scope for digital solutions and coordination between tax authorities. Old plans therefore cannot be pulled 'off the shelf'.This project will evaluate whether a wealth tax for the UK would be desirable and deliverable. We will address the following three main research questions:(1) Is a wealth tax justified in principle, on economic or other grounds?(2) How should a wealth tax be designed, including definition of the tax base and solutions to administrative challenges such as valuation and liquidity?(3) What would be the revenue and distributional effects of a wealth tax in the UK, for a variety of design options and at specified rates/thresholds?To answer these questions, we will draw on a network of world-leading exports on tax policy from across academia, policy spheres, and legal practice. We will examine international experience, synthesising a large body of existing research originating in countries that already have (or have had) a wealth tax. We will add to these resources through novel research that draws on adjacent fields and disciplines to craft new solutions to the practical problems faced in delivering a wealth tax. We will also review common objections to a wealth tax.These new insights will be published in a series of 'evidence papers' made available directly to the public and policymakers. We will also publish a final report that states key recommendations for government and (if appropriate) delivers a 'ready to legislate' design for a wealth tax. We will not recommend specific rates or thresholds for the tax. Instead, we will create an online 'tax simulator' so that policymakers and members of the public can model the revenue and distributional effects of different options. We will also work with international partners to inform debates about wealth taxes in other countries.

在全球范围内，应对COVID-19所需的前所未有的公共支出将不可避免地引发关于如何重建公共财政的辩论。与此同时，许多国家的政治家已经面临着选民提出的意义深远的问题，即这一流行病暴露出社会结构中日益扩大的裂缝，因为先前的不平等现象被放大，公共服务被用到了极限。这些同时发生的对国家政治的冲击不可避免地鼓励人们在税收政策上“大胆思考”。甚至在当前的危机之前，英国就有广泛的呼声要求改革财富税收。迄今为止，这些建议的重点是改革现有的税收。然而，其他国家已经开始提出引入“财富税”的想法，这是一种对财富所有权（债务净额）征收的新税。COVID-19迅速将这一想法推到了世界各地政治议程的更高位置，但现有的研究远不能为政策制定者提供是否以及如何引入财富税的全面蓝图。批评人士指出，需要解决一些合理的问题。这是否公平，公众是否支持？从经济学的角度来看，这种税收是否合理？你如何阻止富人隐藏他们的资产？他们都会离开吗？如何评估资产价值？那些拥有大量财富，但几乎没有收入来缴纳财富税的人会怎么样？如果财富税是一个好主意，为什么许多国家放弃了它？这些都是重要的问题，没有直接的答案。英国政府上一次考虑征收财富税是在20世纪70年代中期。这也是英国学者和政策制定者最后一次认真思考如何实施这种税收。在过去的半个世纪里，人们的流动性、我们税收体系的结构、数据的可用性、数字解决方案的范围以及税务机关之间的协调都发生了很大变化。因此，旧的计划不能被“搁置”。这个项目将评估英国的财富税是否可取和可实现。我们将解决以下三个主要的研究问题：（1）财富税在原则上是否合理，经济或其他理由？(2)应如何设计财富税，包括税基的定义以及估值和流动性等行政挑战的解决方案？(3)在英国，对于各种设计方案和特定的税率/门槛，财富税的收入和分配影响是什么？为了回答这些问题，我们将利用来自学术界，政策领域和法律的实践的世界领先的税收政策出口网络。我们将研究国际经验，综合大量来自已经（或曾经）征收财富税的国家的现有研究。我们将通过新的研究来增加这些资源，这些研究借鉴了邻近的领域和学科，为实施财富税所面临的实际问题制定新的解决方案。我们还将回顾对财富税的常见反对意见。这些新的见解将发表在一系列直接提供给公众和政策制定者的“证据文件”中。我们还将发布一份最终报告，为政府提出关键建议，并（如果合适）为财富税提供“准备立法”的设计。我们不会建议具体的税率或门槛。相反，我们将创建一个在线“税收模拟器”，以便政策制定者和公众可以模拟不同选择的收入和分配效果。我们还将与国际伙伴合作，为其他国家关于财富税的辩论提供信息。