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Should all the world be taxed?

Taxation and the internet

  • Bit Tax
  • Published:
Intereconomics

Abstract

Governments are beginning to fear that the establishment of the “information society” will cause their revenue from taxation to shrink: economic activities in the virtual world of the Internet could escape the application of value added tax. Are these fears justified? Would a “bit tax” solve the problem?

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References

  1. Luc Soete, Karin Kamp: The “BIT TAX”: the case for further research, Internet 1996, URL: http://www.ispo.cec.be/hleg/ bittax.html.

  2. Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft: Info 2000: Deutschlands Weg in die Informationsgesellschaft, Bonn 1996, p. 16.

  3. Ute Hoffmann: “Request for comments”: Das Internet und seine Gemeinde, internet 1996, URL: http://duplox.wz-berlin.de/docs/jb.

  4. Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, op. cit., Info 2000: Deutschlands Weg in die Informationsgesellschaft, Bonn 1996, p. 17.

  5. European Commission: First reflections of the high level group of experts, Internet 1996, URL: http://www.ispo.cec.be/hleg/hlegref.html.

  6. Ibid. European Commission: First reflections of the high level group of experts, Internet 1996, URL: http://www.ispo.cec.be/hleg/hlegref.html.

  7. S. J. Liebowitz, S. E. Margolis: Network Externality: An Uncommon Tragedy, in: Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 135.

  8. Ibid. Network Externality: An Uncommon Tragedy, in: Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 136.

  9. Mark Ward: All the world shall be taxed, in: The New Scientist, 20th July 1996, p. 14f.

  10. Luc Soete, Karin Kamp, op. cit. The “BIX TAX”: the case for further research, internet 1996, URL: http://www.ispo.cec.be/hleg/ bittax.html.

  11. Ibid. Luc Soete, Karin Kamp, op. cit. The “BIX TAX”: the case for further research, internet 1996, URL: http://www.ispo.cec.be/hleg/ bittax.html.

  12. Ibid. Luc Soete, Karin Kamp, op. cit. The “BIX TAX”: the case for further research, internet 1996, URL: http://www.ispo.cec.be/hleg/ bittax.html.

  13. VAT is usually explicitly mentioned in the bill; see for example http://www.mcb.net/mannet/brochure.html.

  14. S. J. Liebowitz, S. E. Margolis op.cit., Network Externality: An Uncommon Tragedy, in: Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 8, No. 2, p. 137.

  15. Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, op. cit. Info 2000: Deutschlands Weg in die Informationsgesellschaft Bonn 1996, p. 22.

  16. cf. Luc Soete, Karin Kamp, op. cit. The “BIT TAX”: the case for further research, internet 1996, URL: http://www.ispo.cec.be/hleg/bittax.html.

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Beck, H., Prinz, A. Should all the world be taxed?. Intereconomics 32, 87–92 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02927163

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02927163

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