New Research Progress on Modern Optimal Taxation Theory
To increase the intensity and efficiency of using taxation to improve income distribution needs to build a systematic theoretical analysis framework,which helps to provide guidance based on China's real economy and tax data.The diversity of the characteristics of Chinese taxpayers,the complexity of the economic environment,and the economic uncertainty in the market make it difficult to construct a proper model for quantitative analysis.In the past two decades,the rapid development of optimal taxation theory in the framework of heterogeneous individuals has provided a way to solve these difficulties.It is of practical significance to sort out the new progress of research on modern optimal taxa-tion theory:applying advanced theoretical research methods to quantitatively analyze and solve problems such as the com-plexity of taxpayers'behavior is helpful to provide practical and effective policy suggestions for the reform of China's fis-cal and tax system.From the perspective of theoretical development and innovation,modern tax theory has been greatly enriched from the perspectives of research methods and application scenarios,but there are few summaries of the new de-velopment of research on modern optimal tax theory in China.Given the above practical and theoretical background,this paper systematically reviews research on the modern opti-mal tax theory based on the heterogeneous individual framework,sorts out the research content and conclusions of cutting-edge research in the past two decades from the aspects of the research framework,analysis methods,and theoretical ap-plication,and discusses the policy implications for China.In terms of the research framework,the benchmark model of optimal tax theory in the framework of heterogeneous individuals has three core characteristics.Firstly,the distribution of labor abilities is exogenous.Secondly,the unobservable heterogeneity at the individual level is one-dimensional.Thirdly,labor supply is a decision under intensive margin.For solving the optimal tax problem,the advantage of the tax perturba-tion method is that it can provide more economic intuition.The mechanism design method relies on the revelation prin-ciple of information economics and the incentive compatibility theory,the solution process of which is more rigorous.Both methods can generate optimal tax expressions based on measurable sufficient statistics.When simulating optimal taxation,the distribution of consumer abilities,the social welfare weight,and the elasticity of labor supply affect the level and shape of optimal taxation.In terms of analysis methods,the theoretical analysis methods have been extended to differ-ent research problems by relaxing the assumptions of the benchmark model:(1)Endogenous wage rates.The general equilibrium effect and incomplete substitution between different labor skills and between labor and capital will change the structure of the optimal marginal tax rate formulas.(2)Multi-dimensional heterogeneity of consumers'private informa-tion.Most studies transform the multi-dimensional heterogeneity into a one-dimensional heterogeneity problem to avoid multi-dimensional screening.(3)Extensive margin of labor supply.Existing literature has discussed the optimal design of unemployment subsidy and income tax by combining consumers'employment choices with endogenous wage and hetero-geneous occupational preferences.(4)Consumers'decision-making in adynamic environment.Existing literature mainly discusses the design of capital income tax or wealth tax in this framework.For the application of the theory,this paper summarizes the characteristics of the optimal income tax in four sce-narios according to the research theme:(1)The optimal income tax on high-income earners.The super-star effect,inno-vative behavior,and rent-seeking behavior of high-income earners reduce the optimal marginal tax rate of high-income earners.(2)The optimal income tax for entrepreneurs.Existing studies have considered the entrepreneurial risk,credit constraints,the career choice between entrepreneurs and workers,and the trickle-down effect that reducing corporate in-come tax increases workers'wages.(3)The optimal income tax for households.Existing literature mainly focuses on how the income level of spouses affects the optimal income tax for the primary earners and how to regulate income in-equality within families.(4)The optimal income tax and transfer payments when there are different levels of government.Existing literature mainly focuses on how factor flows and inter-regional competition affect the design of income tax or transfer payments.At present,the research paradigm of optimal tax theory has been relatively mature,and it still has broad prospects for theoretical developments and applications in the future.Finally,this paper points out that there is still a gap between existing theoretical research results and the policy implementation:there is insufficient discussion on the practice of policy reform;there is still a large gap between the theoretical model setting and the real economy;the research perspective is still relatively limited;and there are few studies on China.Based on absorbing the core ideas of modern optimal taxation theory,future research needs to expand and apply the theory to the economic background of China.
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维普
