Journal of Applied Economic Research
ISSN 2712-7435
Historical Reconstruction of the Impact of Pandemics on the Development of Indirect Taxation
A.I. Pogorletskiy
St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
Abstract
Based on the historical method of research and reconstruction, the article describes the most noticeable changes in indirect taxation under the influence of pandemics of the past. The objective of the work is to identify evolutionary relationships between pandemics of dangerous infectious diseases and the institution of indirect taxation. The author's hypothesis is as follows: indirect taxation as a result of the impact of pandemics is undergoing noticeable changes, and the accumulated historical experience allows us to turn to retrospective practice in order to understand how indirect taxes and their collection tools might be modified in the post-coronavirus world. The conclusions of the paper are that major pandemics known to mankind are changing the tax landscape, leading to new approaches to indirect taxation, based on either an intuitive response to negative events, or specially created scientific concepts under the influence of the consequences of pandemics. The Medieval and Modern Times pandemics made a special contribution to taxation and tax administration, which created many anti-crisis mechanisms of indirect taxation of today. Tax regulation programs during the COVID-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020 mostly resembled those previously used in history. At the same time, an innovative outcome of coronavirus infection for indirect taxation could be the introduction of VAT and excise taxes in the object of international taxation and international tax law, making proposals for their unification and collection control in the agenda of international tax cooperation under the auspices of relevant intergovernmental institutions. The practical significance of the study suggests using the obtained results to predict the transformation of indirect taxation, taking into account the impact of the consequences of the global spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. This will make it possible to adapt modern anti-crisis tax policy, both at the national and global levels, to the theory and practice developed under the influence of pandemics, which will help to minimize the negative consequences of the corona-crisis for public finances
Keywords
anti-crisis measures; corona-crisis; excises; indirect taxation; indirect taxes; pandemics; tax policy; tax regulation; value-added tax (VAT)
JEL classification
B15; E62; H20References
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About Authors
Pogorletskiy Alexander Igorevich
Doctor of Economics, Professor, Department of World Economy, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia (191034, St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya Nab., 7/9); ORCID 0000-0003-4495-5557; e-mail: a.pogorletskiy@spbu.ru
For citation
Pogorletskiy A.I. Historical Reconstruction of the Impact of Pandemics on the Development of Indirect Taxation. Journal of Applied Economic Research, 2020, Vol. 19, No. 2, 180–207. DOI: 10.15826/vestnik.2020.19.2.010
Article info
Received June 3, 2020; Revised June 21, 2020; Accepted June 30, 2020
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15826/vestnik.2020.19.2.010
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