Social Incidence of the General Sales Tax in Pakistan

November 1, 2003

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

This paper analyses the social incidence of the general sales tax (GST) in Pakistan. The main finding of the study is that contrary to widespread perception, the social incidence of the GST in Pakistan is slightly progressive. The main reason for this counterintuitive result is that most items heavily consumed by the poor are exempt from GST in Pakistan.

Subject: Commodities, Consumption, Electricity, Household consumption, Income, National accounts, Taxes, Value-added tax

Keywords: Consumption, consumption household, Electricity, general sales tax, GST incidence, Household consumption, household income, incidence analysis, Income, lifeline consumer, Pakistan, social incidence, Taxation, value, Value-added tax, WP

Pages:
28
Volume:
2003
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451875102.001
Issue:
216
Series:
Working Paper No. 2003/216
Stock No:
WPIEA2162003
ISBN:
9781451875102
ISSN:
1018-5941

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