Bìznes Inform (Nov 2017)
The Evolution of Economic Thought Regarding the Role of Taxes in Securing the Welfare of Population
Abstract
The article is concerned with researching the evolution of theories of taxation and its role in the regulation of the welfare of population. The evolution of tax theories is divided into six stages. At the first stage of formation of ideas of tax regulation, the tax was considered only as obligatory payment of each member of society for the minimal volume of services on the part of the State (ensuring personal safety and safety of property). The second stage of the evolution of taxation theories is setting the question of equivalence of the taxes paid and the services received from the State. The third stage is characterized by attention to the impact of income tax on the level of individual and social welfare, including the impact of corporate taxes on the level of remuneration and employment of population. The fourth stage relates to the determination of the optimal correlation between direct and indirect taxes in order to ensure the growth of public welfare. The fifth stage is characterized by an increasing role of the institutional aspect of taxation, especially its behavioral component. The sixth stage is related to the change of approaches to defining the essence of welfare, which is complemented by the ecological component. One of the directions for further researches is a systematization of the tax instrumentarium, which was used in the western practice and could be used in the future in Ukraine.
