The Consumption Tax Economy
A New Economic Model for Britain
What if Britain taxed consumption rather than earnings?
Britain taxes income, employment, investment and spending. But what if the principal burden of taxation were moved away from creating wealth and towards consuming it?
The Consumption Tax Economy examines a proposed long-term reform of the British tax system: progressively reducing Income Tax and National Insurance while increasing taxation of final consumption. The objective is to change the incentives governing work, employment, saving, investment and the creation of personal wealth.
Rather than proposing an overnight abolition of existing taxes, the book develops a gradual transition subject to public-finance constraints and economic evidence. It examines potential effects on wages, prices, productivity, government borrowing, welfare, retirement, trade and international competitiveness, while testing how the proposal might fail.
Inside the book
Part I — The Problem
Why the existing tax system may discourage productive activity, and the principles behind a different tax base.
- The taxation of work and employment
- Welfare incentives and public debt
- The consumption-tax principle
- A new social contract
Part II — Making the Transition
The practical fiscal and economic questions involved in changing a national tax system over time.
- Transition modelling and public revenue
- Saving, capital and investment
- Trade, borders and tourism
- Hardship, retirement and living costs
- Risks and failure scenarios
Part III — Politics, Adoption and Implementation
How the proposal could be debated, introduced and evaluated over a long transition.
- Political adoption and public explanation
- The first five years
- Britain thirty years later
- Potential applications beyond Britain
The book also contains eight appendices covering fiscal baselines, transition modelling, sensitivity analysis, household and sector effects, trade and borders, methodology and references, followed by an index.
Buy the paperback — 20% discount links
Choose the IngramSpark shop for your region. The prices below show the published retail price and the equivalent price after the 20% discount.
Discounts and final prices are subject to confirmation at IngramSpark checkout. Shipping and any applicable taxes are additional. Regional prices are shown in GBP, USD and AUD respectively.