Small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies
In many countries small businesses expect and generally receive special treatment, concessions or arrangements regarding taxation compared with medium and large business. Such policies are based primarily upon the role and importance of small business in economic growth and especially job creation,...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
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School of Economics and Finance, Curtin Business School
2008
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32229 |
| _version_ | 1848753603736502272 |
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| author | Pope, Jeffrey |
| author_facet | Pope, Jeffrey |
| author_sort | Pope, Jeffrey |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | In many countries small businesses expect and generally receive special treatment, concessions or arrangements regarding taxation compared with medium and large business. Such policies are based primarily upon the role and importance of small business in economic growth and especially job creation, and the high administrative and compliance costs of including a large number of small entities in the tax system. This paper focuses on the latter aspect, using examples and data from various countries in the world, particularly the UK, USA, New Zealand and Australia. The arguments for special treatment seem compelling, particularly lower administrative and compliance costs, although difficulties usually arise at the margin or threshold where the special treatment ends. However, an often neglected argument is that small business often engage in high levels of tax evasion, based on the so-called ?cash economy?, an opportunity generally denied to large business (at least domestically). It can be argued that benefits arising from evasion roughly approximate to the higher compliance costs endured by small business, particularly for income taxation. This paper evaluates this argument and the extent that special treatment taxation arrangements of small business are warranted. The conclusion sums up the experiences of the countries considered, the key policy implications, the limitations of the analysis, and indicates areas for further research. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:27:09Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-32229 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:27:09Z |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| publisher | School of Economics and Finance, Curtin Business School |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-322292017-01-30T13:29:48Z Small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies Pope, Jeffrey Tax Policy Research Unit Small business taxation special treatment policies Jeff Pope Tax Policy In many countries small businesses expect and generally receive special treatment, concessions or arrangements regarding taxation compared with medium and large business. Such policies are based primarily upon the role and importance of small business in economic growth and especially job creation, and the high administrative and compliance costs of including a large number of small entities in the tax system. This paper focuses on the latter aspect, using examples and data from various countries in the world, particularly the UK, USA, New Zealand and Australia. The arguments for special treatment seem compelling, particularly lower administrative and compliance costs, although difficulties usually arise at the margin or threshold where the special treatment ends. However, an often neglected argument is that small business often engage in high levels of tax evasion, based on the so-called ?cash economy?, an opportunity generally denied to large business (at least domestically). It can be argued that benefits arising from evasion roughly approximate to the higher compliance costs endured by small business, particularly for income taxation. This paper evaluates this argument and the extent that special treatment taxation arrangements of small business are warranted. The conclusion sums up the experiences of the countries considered, the key policy implications, the limitations of the analysis, and indicates areas for further research. 2008 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32229 School of Economics and Finance, Curtin Business School fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Tax Policy Research Unit Small business taxation special treatment policies Jeff Pope Tax Policy Pope, Jeffrey Small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies |
| title | Small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies |
| title_full | Small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies |
| title_fullStr | Small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies |
| title_short | Small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies |
| title_sort | small business taxation:an evaluation of the role of special treatment policies |
| topic | Tax Policy Research Unit Small business taxation special treatment policies Jeff Pope Tax Policy |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/32229 |