Welfare Loss of Taxation Overview Categories
Welfare Loss of Taxation: Overview, Categories
Lea Uradu, J.D. is a Maryland State Registered Tax Preparer, State Certified Notary Public, Certified VITA Tax Preparer, IRS Annual Filing Season Program Participant, and Tax Writer.
What Is the Welfare Loss of Taxation?
Welfare loss of taxation refers to a decrease in economic and social well-being caused by a new tax. It is the cost to society incurred by transferring purchasing power from taxpayers to the taxing authority.
These costs consist of foregone economically productive activity and resources consumed by the process of taxation or the compensating behavior of workers, consumers, and businesses in response to the tax.
Key Takeaways
– The welfare loss of taxation is the total cost imposed on society by a new tax.
– These costs arise from administration, compliance, avoidance, or evasion of the tax, in addition to deadweight losses and other welfare losses associated with microeconomic distortions created by the tax.
– The welfare loss of taxation can be thought of as the total transaction costs involved in the process of transferring purchasing power from taxpayers to the taxing authority.
Understanding the Welfare Loss of Taxation
Taxes are collected by governments to serve various ends such as funding public goods, achieving equitable distributions of wealth and income, or transferring wealth from subjects to ruling classes. However, the imposition and implementation of taxes are not costless processes and impact taxpayers’ economic incentives and behavior.
These costs can be seen as the transaction costs of the tax side of public finance.
Several types of costs contribute to the total cost of taxation, including deadweight losses in the taxed market, welfare losses in related markets, compliance costs, administrative costs, tax evasion costs, and tax avoidance costs.
They arise from two sources:
1. Taxation consumes real resources.
2. People adjust their economic behavior in response to the tax, leading to opportunity costs and the consumption of resources.
Note that some changes in behavior may offset some or all of the social cost of the tax, depending on externalized costs or benefits to discouraged or encouraged activities, as in the case of a Pigouvian tax.
Net of such externalities, the costs of taxation represent a social welfare loss that can offset the social welfare benefits generated through public revenues. These costs are essential considerations in designing and implementing economically optimal taxes, balancing against any social benefits from funded public services or other tax benefits.
Categories of Social Costs of Taxation
The costs making up the total welfare loss of taxation can be categorized. The deadweight loss of taxation in the taxed market is the most discussed welfare loss, but it represents a lower bound on the total welfare loss.
Deadweight Losses and Other Microeconomic Distortions
Deadweight losses occur when the market price and quantity of a good deviate from the equilibrium price and quantity based on costs and benefits. It can be calculated or depicted graphically as the difference in economic surplus generated by a market with or without the tax.
Because a tax drives a wedge between buyers’ and sellers’ prices, there is always a deadweight loss, except for a perfect Pigouvian tax. Deadweight losses increase with the tax rate and can cause additional welfare losses in related markets due to changes in demand and supply conditions.
Additional losses may occur when adjusting impacted markets to the after-tax situation.
Administrative Costs
Creating and implementing any tax involves costs. The legislative process, documentation of taxed goods and activities, tax collection, and pursuing tax evaders all have associated costs. These costs vary based on process efficiency and voluntary compliance.
Compliance Costs
Compliance costs are the administrative costs externalized onto those who are taxed. This includes producing and storing accounting records, forms, or tax returns required for tax purposes. Costs can also arise from third-party-administered taxes, like employer-administered taxes. Complexity and specific tax code requirements affect these costs.
Avoidance Costs
Avoidance costs include transaction and opportunity costs from transactions aimed at reducing tax burdens. Examples include delaying the realization of capital gains for a lower tax rate, investing in tax-advantaged assets, or traveling to another jurisdiction to avoid paying local taxes. Costs of actions taken to legally reduce taxes can be included here.
Evasion Costs
Evasion costs are similar to avoidance costs but also include activities to avoid detection when illegally evading taxes. It also accounts for the subjective cost or risk of detection and punishment.
Evasion costs are similar to avoidance costs but also include activities to avoid detection when illegally evading taxes. It also accounts for the subjective cost or risk of detection and punishment.
