SFeDu
of.211, Gorgoko St., 88 
Rostov-on-Don
Russia
344002
+7 (863) 250-59-54
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
te@sfedu.ru

TERRA ECONOMICUS

Evolution of tax institutes and transition towards economic growth

TERRA ECONOMICUS, , Vol. 14 (no. 4),

The paper proposes to consider the tax system in the light of the evolution of tax institutions (rules and instruments) guiding economic agents’ behaviour. This approach makes it easier to justify the choice among the main directions of reforms in this sector of the Russian economy, which has traditional economic and sociocultural specificities. In this context, it is very important to analyse not only formal tax rules (laws, regulations, instructions, etc..), but also informal rules used by different branches of government, tax authorities and taxpayers. The analysis showed that in recent years the tax system of the Russian Federation has consistently improved, which was reflected in the dynamic of its position in Tax Paying Rating by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the World Bank Group. However, the great tax legislation improvement has not been accompanied adequate changes of informal tax norms. On the one hand, this is because it takes much time to form the new tax memes, habits and organizational routines, and, on the other hand, unlike in Western countries the economic environment in Russia has a lesser degree of transparency. Currently, the Russian government proposes different measures of tax policy that could solve the problem of fiscal consolidation. However, the general logic of successful tax evolution requires a different approach connected with tax measures that promote scientific and technological innovation and investment in the development of competitive proactive economic actors population. In this case the fact that the Russian government follows the previously announced policy not to tighten tax, as well as it adopts only that improvements which will be clearly understood by economic actors as part of the long-term national development strategy is of fundamental importance. To improve tax institutes also require long-term positive business practices based on cooperation and feedback from the political authorities and government bodies, which build a credible and solid foundation for cultivation of new informal tax rules in order to stimulate rapid socio-economic development.


Keywords: taxes; tax system; tax reform; institutionalism; evolutionary economics

References:
  • Brennan G. and Buchanan J. (2004). Towards a Tax Constitution for Leviathan / In: Milestones in Economics. Welfare Economics and Public Choice, vol. 4. Saint Petersburg School of Economics, pp. 449–476. (In Russian.)
  • Gurnak А.V. (2015). Institutional aspect of tax systems development. Issues of taxation theory and practice, vol. 12. Moscow: Dashkov i Ko., pp. 34–41. (In Russian.)
  • Maiburov I.A. (2012). Mass opportunism of taxpayers as a consequence of lack of tax morale in our society. Taxes and Financial Law, no. 9, pp. 179–192. (In Russian.)
  • Merkulova T.V. (2005). Formal and informal institutions of tax: interconnections and contradictions. Scientific Papers of DonNTU: Economics, no 91, pp. 64–70. (In Russian.)
  • Oreshkin М. (2016). Minfin explains strict policy of Central Bank (http://www.vestifinance.ru/articles/73689/print – accessed 3 Oct. 2016). (In Russian.)
  • UNIDO (2013). Lima Declaration: Towards inclusive and sustainable industrial development – Fifteenth Session of the UNIDO General Conference, Lima, Peru, 2–6 December. (In Russian.)
  • Becker M. (ed.) (2008). Handbook of Organizational Routines. Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
  • Blanchard O. and Leigh D. (2013). Growth Forecast Errors and Fiscal Multipliers. IMF Working Paper, Research Department, WP/13/1, 42 pp.
  • Cornell University, INSEAD, and WIPO. (2016). The Global Innovation Index 2016: Winning with Global Innovation. Ithaca, Fontainebleau, and Geneva.
  • Darwin C. (1871). The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, vols. 1 and 2. New York: Appleton.
  • Feldstein М. (2009). The Case for Fiscal Stimulus. Project Syndicate (https://www.project-syndicate.org/print/the-case-for-fiscal-stimulus – accessed 10 Sep. 2016).
  • Frankel J. (2016). Rediscovering Fiscal Policy at the G7. Project Syndicate (https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/focus-on-fiscal-policy-at-g7-by-jeffrey-frankel-2016-05 – accessed 10 Sep. 2016).
  • Hodgson G. (2003). The mystery of the routine. The Darwinian destiny of an evolutionary theory of economic change. Revue economique, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 355–384.
  • International Monetary Fund (2016). World Economic Outlook: Too Slow for Too Long. April. Washington.
  • Mackinder H. (1904). The Geographical Pivot of History. The Geographical Journal, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 421–437.
  • OECD (2011). OECD’s Current Tax Agenda – Centre for Tax Policy and Administration.
  • PWC, World Bank Group (2016). Paying Taxes 2016. 10th edition.
  • Samuelson P. (1993). Altruism as a Problem Involving Group versus Individual Selection in Economics and Biology. The American Economic Review, vol. 83, no. 2, pр. 143–148.
  • Schumpeter J.A. (1954). History of Economic Analysis. Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd.
  • Stiglitz J. and Rashid J. (2016). What’s Holding Back the World Economy? Project Syndicate (https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/whats-holding-back-the-globaleconomy-by-joseph-e--stiglitz-and-hamid-rashid-2016-02 – accessed 4 Sep. 2016).
  • Stolypinsky.club (2016). Report «The Economy of Growth». Stolypin Club (http://stolypinsky.club/economica-rosta/ – accessed 3 Oct. 2016). (In Russian.)
  • The Economist (2016). Out of ammo? Central bankers are running down their arsenal. But other options exist to stimulate the economy (http://www.economist.com/node/21693204/print – accessed 9 Oct. 2016).
  • World Economic Forum (2016). Global Competitiveness Report 2015–2016 (http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-report-2015-2016/ – accessed 9 Oct. 2016).
Publisher: Southern Federal University
Founder: Southern Federal University
ISSN: 2073-6606