Trade liberalization and the global expansion of modern taxes

Seelkopf, Laura; Lierse, Hanna; Schmitt, Carina

doi:10.1080/09692290.2015.1125937

Cited by 22 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…At the same time, it should hurt industries benefitting from the protectionist effects of turnover taxes by subjecting them to greater competition. Similar to Seelkopf et al (2016), we thus emphasize the close relationship between trade liberalization and VAT introduction. However, we do not explain this link with revenue needs created by tariff reductions but rather with their effects on the international competitiveness of domestic sectors.…”

Section: Theorysupporting

confidence: 66%

“…Similar to Seelkopf et al . (), we thus emphasize the close relationship between trade liberalization and VAT introduction. However, we do not explain this link with revenue needs created by tariff reductions but rather with their effects on the international competitiveness of domestic sectors.…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 65%

“…While this is a potential implication of our finding, we do not mean to overstretch our interpretation, as large‐N studies of the relationship between trade and the VAT have produced mixed results. While more open economies indeed are more likely to introduce VAT (Seelkopf et al, ), it is less clear whether the VAT actually enhances trade (Desai and Hines, ). As our analysis shows, however, the link between economic openness and the VAT may not fully run through already existing trade.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Governments that expanded social programs then had to find an efficient source of additional revenue (Lindert, ). A related explanation would be that trade liberalization causes tariff revenues to decline and thus creates a need for new revenue sources and ‘functionalist' pressures to expand the VAT (Seelkopf et al, ).…”

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Consumption Taxation in the European Economic Community: Fostering the Common Market or Financing the Welfare State?

Haffert

Schulz

2019

J of Common Market Studies

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The literature on the comparative political economy of taxation often links consumption taxation to the welfare state. It argues that the expansion of consumption taxation paid for the expansion of welfare states and that bigger welfare states therefore tax consumption more heavily. We challenge this perspective by looking at the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in the European Economic Community in 1967, the breakthrough of this form of consumption taxation. Studying the crucial case of Germany, and complementing it with the shadow case of the Netherlands, we demonstrate that political struggles about this reform did not center on a conflict between supporters and opponents of welfare state expansion. Instead, the VAT was primarily a tool to foster market integration in Europe by reducing barriers to trade. As we show, the coalition in support of the VAT only succeeded after it won the backing of important export interests.

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Section: Theorysupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 65%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Consumption Taxation in the European Economic Community: Fostering the Common Market or Financing the Welfare State?

Haffert

Schulz

2019

J of Common Market Studies

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“…This is hardly surprising, however, since global tax governance only emerged as a serious research topic in international relations about ten years ago (Dietsch and Rixen 2016, 1). Moreover, the latest research on the interrelations between trade and taxation focuses often on the effects of trade policy on domestic taxes such as the VAT (Seelkopf, Lierse and Schmitt 2016), rather than on tax avoidance.…”

Section: Introduction: Taxation and Tax Havens On The International Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Panama and the WTO: new constitutionalism of trade policy and global tax governance

Eskelinen

Ylönen

2017

Review of International Political Economy

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Tax havens and tax flight have lately received increasing attention, while interest toward multilateral trade policies has somewhat diminished. We argue that more attention needs to be paid exactly to the interrelations between trade and tax policies. Drawing from two case studies on Panama's trade disputes, we show how World Trade Organization (WTO) rules can be used both to resist attempts to sanction secrecy structures and to promote measures against tax flight. The theory of new constitutionalism can help to explain how trade treaties can 'lock in' tax policies. However, our case studies show that trade policy not only 'locks in' democratic policy-making, but also enables tax havens to use their commercialized sovereignty to resists anti-secrecy measures. What is being 'locked in' are the policy tools, not necessarily the policies. The changing relationship between trade and tax policies can also create new and unexpected tools for tackling tax evasion, underlining the importance of epistemic arbitrage in the context of new constitutionalism. In principle, political actors with sufficient technical and juridical knowledge can shape global tax governance to various directions regardless of their formal position in the world political hierarchies. This should be taken into account when trade treaties are being negotiated or revised.

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Economic and Social Crises, Model Change and the Responsiveness of the Legal System: Special Tax Measures and Their Regulation in Hungary

Varju

2024

European Union and Its Neighbours in a Globalized World

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Responding to various social, economic and policy crises, Hungary has introduced and has since maintained a broad range of special taxes, imposing additional taxation on certain corporate taxpayers. These measures enabled the state to secure necessary tax revenues and make strategic adjustments to the domestic tax structure. Through the special taxes and their regulation, the Hungarian legal system was able to respond to significant changes and challenges in its social and economic environment. However, their introduction came with significant consequences for the legal system at large. As demonstrated by the case of the turnover-based progressive taxes introduced, the responsiveness of law may come at a cost of legal regulation that does not guarantee that the declared objectives and the actual effects of legal measures coincide. Such legal changes thus enable—as concealed by the words of the legislation—discriminatory, or even abusive application of the law.

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Trade liberalization and the global expansion of modern taxes

Cited by 22 publications

References 32 publications

Consumption Taxation in the European Economic Community: Fostering the Common Market or Financing the Welfare State?

Consumption Taxation in the European Economic Community: Fostering the Common Market or Financing the Welfare State?

Panama and the WTO: new constitutionalism of trade policy and global tax governance

Economic and Social Crises, Model Change and the Responsiveness of the Legal System: Special Tax Measures and Their Regulation in Hungary

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