增值税是否创造价值？来自多样化国家行政数据的经验教训

中文摘要

增值税是现代税收体系的基石。理论上，它具有许多理想属性：不扭曲企业的生产决策、难以逃税、并能产生大量财政收入。然而，在许多国家，增值税的教科书模型与其实际实施之间存在差异。当增值税的实施偏离其教科书模型时，该税种可能会失去其理想属性。我们利用来自11个不同收入水平国家的企业层面增值税行政记录，考察现实世界中增值税体系的运作情况。我们记录了四个典型事实，它们反映了与教科书增值税模型的偏离，这些偏离在低收入国家尤为突出。我们讨论了这些偏离对增值税绩效的影响，并模拟了反事实的零售销售税和流转税。尽管存在缺陷，我们得出的结论是，现实世界中的增值税优于替代方案。

Abstract

The value-added tax (VAT) is a cornerstone of the modern tax system. It has many desirable properties in theory: it does not distort firms' production decisions, it is difficult to evade, and it generates a substantial amount of revenue. Yet, in many countries there are discrepancies between the textbook model of the VAT and its practical implementation. Where the VAT implementation diverges from its textbook model, the tax may lose its desirable properties. We draw on firm-level administrative VAT records from 11 countries at different income levels to examine the functioning of real-world VAT systems. We document four stylized facts that capture departures from the textbook VAT model which are particularly pronounced in lower-income countries. We discuss the effects on VAT performance and simulate a counterfactual retail sales tax and a turnover tax. Despite its shortcomings, we conclude that the real-world VAT is superior to the alternatives.