Unit Sales and Price Effects of Preannounced Consumption Tax Reforms: Micro-level Evidence from European VAT

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Buettner, Thiess; Madzharova, Boryana
• 署名单位: Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; University of Erlangen Nuremberg
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20170708
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 103-134
• 关键词: intertemporal substitution; Consumer durables; POLICY; demand; state; cash

摘要

We study the effects of consumption tax changes on prices and unit sales of durables utilizing micro-level product data. The results show that tax rate changes are fully shifted into prices. An anticipated tax rate change causes a temporary shift in unit sales shortly before implementation, which is more than offset by adjustments upon and after implementation. If the tax rate increases by 1 percentage point, unit sales rise by 2.5 percent on average in the last month before implementation. The permanent effect is a drop in sales by 2 percent below their original level, implying relatively strong intertemporal substitution effects.