Pacific B usiness R eview (International)

A Refereed Monthly International Journal of Management Indexed With Web of Science(ESCI)
ISSN: 0974-438X(P)
Impact factor (SJIF):8.603
RNI No.:RAJENG/2016/70346
Postal Reg. No.: RJ/UD/29-136/2017-2019
Editorial Board

Prof. B. P. Sharma
(Principal Editor in Chief)

Prof. Dipin Mathur
(Consultative Editor)

Dr. Khushbu Agarwal
(Editor in Chief)

A Refereed Monthly International Journal of Management

Tax Structure and Economic Growth: A Case Study of India

Author

C.A. (Dr.) Pramod Kumar Pandey

Associate Professor

School of Management

Presidency University, Itgalpur

Rajanakunte,Yelahanka, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Abstract

The paper has examined the impact of tax structures on economic growth in India. Data regarding Personal Income Taxes, Corporate Taxes, and Gross Domestic Product have been collected from the website of Reserve Bank of India from 1973-74 to 2018-19. The study applies Johansen Cointegration, Vector Error Correction Model followed by Wald Test to analyze the long-run and short-run relation between the variables. The results indicate that Corporate Taxes and Indirect Taxes have a positive impact while Personal Income Tax negative impact on the economic growth of India in the long run. Thus, the findings of this study do not support the decision taken by the Government of India regarding Corporate Tax rate cuts.

Keywords:Personal Income Tax, Corporate Tax, Indirect Tax, Gross Domestic Product, Tax Buoyancy, Goods and Services Tax JEL classification:H25, H21, E21, E23

Introduction

Tax Structure and Economic Growth: A Case Study of India

Author

C.A. (Dr.) Pramod Kumar Pandey

Associate Professor

School of Management

Presidency University, Itgalpur

Rajanakunte,Yelahanka, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Abstract

The paper has examined the impact of tax structures on economic growth in India. Data regarding Personal Income Taxes, Corporate Taxes, and Gross Domestic Product have been collected from the website of Reserve Bank of India from 1973-74 to 2018-19. The study applies Johansen Cointegration, Vector Error Correction Model followed by Wald Test to analyze the long-run and short-run relation between the variables. The results indicate that Corporate Taxes and Indirect Taxes have a positive impact while Personal Income Tax negative impact on the economic growth of India in the long run. Thus, the findings of this study do not support the decision taken by the Government of India regarding Corporate Tax rate cuts.

Keywords:Personal Income Tax, Corporate Tax, Indirect Tax, Gross Domestic Product, Tax Buoyancy, Goods and Services Tax JEL classification:H25, H21, E21, E23

Introduction

“Taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid on by the Government were the only Ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our Idleness, three times as much by our Pride, and four times as much by our Folly” (Benjamin Franklin, 1733)

The above quote by Benjamin Franklin rightly describes the burden of taxes. Everyone pays multiple taxes due to binding obligation of law however the return they get for payment of taxes always remains in dark. Tax is one of the most important sources for the Government’s revenue in any country. Taxes act as a source for financing public expenditure. Taxes thus reduces the borrowing requirements of the Government and helps to discharge several responsibilities for social welfare. Even after seventy-two years of independence, tax culture has not been properly established in India. Still, a general tendency to avoid tax is predominant in the Indian economy. This is more because people are more concerned about fairness and justice in treatments (Ashraf, Camerer & Loewenstein, 2005). Every country has a unique tax structure. Tax structure includes the combinations of direct and indirect taxes levied to pursue revenue goals of the Government of a country. The tax policy decides the tax structure. It is not simply the tax but the proper tax structure that may flourish long term growth. Proper tax structure should be conducive to growth and at the same time, it should encompass the required features like equity, fairness, and simplicity. The aim of taxes should be to uplift economic growth without sacrificing human welfare. Tax policy extends beyond the country’s borders and hence requires serious deliberations before setting up a tax policy. Many economic works of literature discuss the effect of taxes on economic growth. The endogenous growth model emphasizes that taxation affects both the short-run and long-run growth of any economy. Whereas Direct Taxes reduce disposable income, Indirect Taxes reduce the efficiency of disposable income. India has a blend of progressive and proportionate taxation. Progressive taxation is levied to reduce the income inequality gap. However, it also reduces encouragement to generate more income and many times individuals start misrepresenting their income and taxes (Slemrod, 1990). The Indian tax structure is shifting from Direct Taxes to Indirect Taxes for reducing the fiscal deficit gap. Recently, personal income taxes have been exempted up to Rupees five lakhs vide budget 2019-20 (MOF, GOI, 2019) and corporate taxes have been brought down to twenty-two percent only for domestic companies. Savings and investments are two pillars for the economic growth of any nation. Taxes directly affect savings and investments. Policymakers while devising any tax policy should fix up the desired savings and investment goals both short term and long run (Harrod, 1939). Reduction in tax rates and providing more avenues for investments may speed up economic growth. Bringing down the tax rates will have the effect of pushing encouragement towards working, investing and saving (Gale &Samwick, 2014). Further, the importance of labour and capital as predominating factors of production cannot be ignored. Taxes directly impact both labour and capital which are used in the production process. Neo-classical economists viewed ease of substitution between labour and capital through technological advancement to ensure a steady growth rate (Solow, 1956). However, every factor substitution has unique tax implications and different growth impacts. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of the existing tax structure on Indian economic growth. For measuring economic growth, the growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a widely accepted criterion among the researchers. GDP is affected by many factors however taxes have a long-lasting impact on GDP. The tax-GDP ratio shows a percentage increase in taxes due to a one percent increase in GDP. The tax-GDP ratio in India is quite inconsistent ranging between 7 percent to 8 percent in the last forty-five years (Figure-1). However, Tax buoyancy which shows the growth rate of taxes to the growth rate of GDP is depicting a falling trend for the same period (Figure-2).

Hence, this paper has been organized as follows. The next section reviews empirical evidence of the impact of tax on GDP. The third section conducts the multivariate analysis to assess the impact of taxes on the Indian GDP. The fourth section incorporates discussions highlighting the problem areas in the Indian tax structure which are acting as hurdles in the economic growth of the country. Finally, the paper ends in the fifth section with concluding remarks to assist policymakers to draw an appropriate tax structure that may boost the growth of the Indian economy.

2. Theoretical and empirical evidences

The effect of taxes on the economic growth of a country has been a long-lasting debate. Many research studies have been conducted on the topic. Among researchers, there is a wider acceptance of the view that taxation influences economic growth (Slemrod, 1990, Engen & Skinner, 1996, Myles, 2000, Scully, 2003) However, their opinions vary regarding the impact of direct and indirect taxes. The majority of authors have found the positive influence of indirect taxes while the negative influence of direct taxes on economic growth in the long run (Matallah&Matallah, 2017, Vazquez et al 2009, Dackehag& Hansson, 2012, Ferede&Dahlby, 2012, McBride, 2012). Two major components of direct taxes are corporate income taxes and personal income. Many studies suggest the negative impact of corporate taxes as having more harmful than personal income taxes (McBride, 2012,Johansson et al 2008, Veronika&Lenka, 2012). Studies also suggest Tax structure based on selective consumption taxes, taxes on personal income and property is more conducive to Economic growth (Stoilova, 2017). Ahmad, Sial& Ahmad (2018) found that Indirect taxes bring negative effects in the long run as compared to the short run. There was a multiplicity of taxes in indirect taxes domain before the Goods and Services Tax came into practice with effect from 1st July 2017. Venkataraman, &Urmi, 2017 found that Economic growth is more affected by Customs duty as compared to Excise duty. It is also argued that Shift in tax structure from trade to domestic consumption taxes is having positive effects for economies classified as lower-middle-income (McNabb, 2016). India follows a progressive taxation mechanism where the tax rate increases with an increase in income. This many times frustrates the high earner group and induce them towards misrepresenting their income and taxes. Slemrod, J., 1990 argued towards bringing a flat rate of personal taxes as a safeguard to minimize tax misrepresentations. Further, Tax rate cuts have been found to create inducement towards working, saving and investing (Ogbonna, George &Odoemelam, Ndubuisi. (2015). Attitude, behavior, and norm also play an important role in deciding tax compliance (Engen & Skinner, 1996). Ullmann, Robert &Watrin, Christoph. (2008) found different reactions of individuals towards different taxes. Subject to certain assumptions any behavioral reactions towards taxes in the form of evasion or avoidance are symptoms of inefficiency (Slemrod, 2018). There is always a growth maximizing rate (Scully. 2003). Below the maximum rate positive impact of taxes on economic growth may be seen, however, once the threshold limit crossed the negative impact of taxes starts (Huňady&Orviská, 2015). Further, the higher tax rate may have the effect of curtailing consumptions and may also induce leakages (Caulkins, et al 2015). The role of foreign capital cannot be ignored for economic growth. Tax structures built up to give concessions to foreign investors may invite more foreign capital. Sinevicienea&Railieneb (2015) suggested that the Taxation structure is an important driving force for private investment. Further, the higher the corporate income tax, the lower will be private investment and slower will be economic growth (Ferede&Dahlby, 2012). On the capital taxation side it has been argued that where growth is driven by domestic innovation activity, positive rates of capital taxation can increase the long-run growth rate (Kate & Milionis, 2019). It goes without saying that for designing an optimal tax system, the use of both direct and indirect taxes are required. Taxes have the effect of bringing inequality. A buffet rule for individuals and companies with wealth tax will have the effect of making the system more equitable (Passant, 2017). There is evidence of molding tax systems to bridge the gap of gender inequality. Economic policies should focus to incorporate social justice and gender equality (Hodgson &Sadiq 2017). For a tax policy to be effective, it should be well planned and efficiently implemented. The policies which are poorly implemented may be deficient in uplifting the economic development (Kransdorff, 2010). Studies also suggest taxing land at higher than the building for developments (Junge& Levinson 2012). Taxes may also be seen as a means of bringing welfare. Kiss (2009) suggested that any tax rate above the Nash equilibrium rate may reduce welfare. The empirical studies may be summarized as under

S/N

Authors

Data and period

Method

Results

1

Skinner, (1987).

31 sub-Saharan African countries during 1965-73 and 1974-82.

Regression Analysis

Output growth will be affected when countries are not on a steady growth path.

2

Barro, (1991).

98 countries 1960-1985

Regression Analysis

There is a negative relation of per capita growth and the ratio of private investment to GDP with the ratio of government consumption expenditure to GDP.

3

Poulson& Kaplan, (2008)

United States ,1964 -2004

Ordinary least squares regression analysis

  Economic growth is negatively impacted due to higher marginal rates of taxes.

4

 

Padda&Akram (2009)

Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, 1973–2008

GLS transformed Dickey-Fuller, Impulse response

The tax rate changes have a negative impact on the economic growth of the selected three countries in the short run.

5

Dackehag&Hansson  (2012).

25 OECD member countries, 1970-2010

Regression model

There is a negative impact of taxation of corporate income on economic growth.

6

Ferede&Dahlby, (2012).

Canada, 1977–2006

Regression model

Higher the corporate income tax, lower will be private investment and slower will be economic growth

7

McBride,(2012)

twenty-six such studies going back to 1983

Review Article

Taxes have a negative effect on growth. Corporate income taxes are most harmful followed by personal income taxes.

8

Veronika&Lenka,  (2012).

27 EU member countries , 1998 – 2010

Regression model

  If the tax burden is reduced, there will be a greater impact on EU15 countries as compared to EU12 new member countries.

9

Stoilova&Patonov (2013)

EU countries, 1995-2010

Regression model

The tax structure based on direct taxes plays a crucial role in the economic growth of EU countries.

10

Gale &Samwick, (2014).

Past 50 years, U.S.

simulation analyses

Different taxes have a different impact on economic growth. Reforms should focus on improving incentives, curtailing existing subsidies, removing windfall gains and minimizing deficit financing to have long term growth of the economy

 

11

Macek, (2014).

OECD Countries 2000-2011

Regression model

There is a negative impact of corporate taxes and income taxes on economic growth, however, the negative impact of value-added tax was not confirmed.

12

Huňady&Orviská (2015).

EU countries (1999-2011)

panel data regressions

There is a maximum tax rate below which the positive impact of taxes on economic growth may be seen, however, once the threshold limit crossed the negative impact of taxes start.

13

Sinevicienea&Railieneb, (2015)

European Union (EU) countries, 2003 – 2012

Spearman’s correlations

The taxation structure is an important driving force for private investment.

14

Clausing, (2016).

U.S. multinational corporations, 1983 – 2012

Regression Analysis

  For the countries having without low tax rates, tax base erosion is a large problem.

15

Iriqat, &Anabtawi, (2016).

Palestine, 1999-2014

Ordinary Least Square

  There is no Granger Causality flowing from tax revenue to GDP, Government spending, Consumption, Investment and Balance of trade

16

McNabb, (2016).

100 developing and developed countries. the past 30 years

Error correction model

A shift in tax structure from trade to domestic consumption taxes are having positive effects for economies classified as lower-middle-income.

17

Ojong, Anthony &Arikpo, (2016)

Nigeria, 1986 to 2010.

Regressions model

No significant relationship was found between Company Income Tax and GDP and growth of the Nigeria economy

18

Kalaš, Mirović, &Andrašić, (2017).

United States, 1996-2016

Regression model

There is no significant impact of personal income taxes and corporate income tax over growth of GDP.

19

Matallah&Matallah (2017)

Algeria 1970-2015

Johansen Cointegration test and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM)

  While direct taxes have a significant negative effect, the indirect tax has a significant positive effect on real GDP in the long run.

20

Stoilova, D. (2017).

EU-28

member

states, 1996–2013

 

regression

model

 

Tax structure based on selective consumption taxes, taxes on personal income and property is more conducive to the economic growth

21

Tapşın, (2017).

OECD countries, 2008-2014

panel regression method

The tax burden is more positively affected by direct taxes and economic growth

22

Venkataraman,  &Urmi, (2017).

India 1977-2015

ARDL Bounds test

Economic growth is more affected by Customs duty as compared to Excise duty

23

Ahmad,  Sial& Ahmad, (2018).

Pakistan, 1974 – 2010

Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach

Indirect taxes bring negative effect in the long run as compared to short-run

24

BÂZGAN, (2018).

Romania, 2009-2017

Vector Autoregressive Model

Indirect taxes have a positive influence on economic growth as compared to direct taxes.

25

Kate, F. & Milionis, P (2019).

77 OECD Member countries (1965-2014)

Ordinary Least Square

Where growth is driven by domestic innovation activity, positive rates of capital taxation can increase the long-run growth rate.

26

Vatavu, Lobont, Stefea, &Olariu, (2019).

the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries, 1995–2015

Granger non-causality tests, Cointegration techniques with error correction models

 

There is a significant influence of taxation on economic growth and citizen wellbeing.

 

3. Data and model specification

This study is based on secondary data collected from the website of Reserve Bank of India. This study has collected 45 year’s data from 1973-74 to 2018-19. The data relates to Direct Taxes, Indirect Taxes (IDT) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Direct taxes have been segmented into Corporate Taxes (CT) and Personal Income Taxes (PIT) for understanding the individual effects. All the data have been converted into a natural log (LN) to maintain consistency. Data have been analyzed using E Views 7.1. The study applies the model of Matallah and Matallah (2017). However, the study excludes the impact of expenditure on GDP because the paper confines itself to examine the only impact of taxes on the GDP of the Indian economy. Following functional relationship is developed. GDP = f (PIT, CT, IDT) (1) Where GDP refers to Gross Domestic Products, PIT refers to Personal Income Taxes and IDT refers to Indirect Taxes. Above functional relation after converting into a natural log (ln) may be written in equation form as follows: ln GDP = β_0 + β_1 〖ln CT〗_t + β_2 〖ln PIT〗_t +β_3 〖ln IDT〗_t+ ε_t(2) Here,β_0, β_1,β_2 and β_(3 ) are defined parameters to be tested under the study, t shows the time trend and ε reflects error term. For testing unit root, the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test is to be applied. The selection of an appropriate model will depend on unit root analysis. If the variables are stationary at level, Ordinary Least Square Method (OLS) may yield good results. However, if variables are found to have stationary at first difference, the application of Ordinary Least Square Method (OLS) may produce spurious regressions and the most appropriate model in such a case would be Johansen Cointegration which studies whether a combination of variables move together or not. If Cointegration is detected between variables, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) followed by Wald Test shall be applied to establish the long run and short-run relation between the variables. The study seeks to test the hypothesis at 5% (α = 0.05) level.

4. Data Analysis

4.1. Descriptive Statistics

The descriptive statistics of the variables are listed in table-2. The results show larger deviations in values for the Personal Income Taxes (LNPIT) and Corporate Taxes (LNCT) as compared to Indirect Taxes (LNIDT). Further, the results of the JarqueBera test reflect that all the variables under study are normally distributed

Table-2: Descriptive Statistics

 

LNGDP

LNCT

LNIDT

LNPIT

 Mean

 13.96587

 9.712420

 10.86743

 8.756885

 Median

 14.09276

 9.769734

 11.06416

 8.278088

 Maximum

 16.76048

 12.97050

 13.48912

 12.71687

 Minimum

 11.13342

 6.368187

 8.023552

 5.361292

 Std. Dev.

 1.720226

 2.069154

 1.552884

 2.400541

 Skewness

-0.030205

 0.069775

-0.129742

 0.229521

 Kurtosis

 1.764404

 1.664383

 1.951479

 1.489098

 Jarque-Bera

 2.933167

 3.456416

 2.236228

 4.779294

 Probability

 0.230712

 0.177602

 0.326896

 0.091662

 Sum

 642.4298

 446.7713

 499.9016

 402.8167

 Sum Sq. Dev.

 133.1630

 192.6630

 108.5152

 259.3168

 Observations

 46

 46

 46

 46

4.2. Testing Unit Root

Unit root is tested using Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test by applying the following equation ∆ Y_t = α_0 + b_1t + β_(Yt-1)+ ∑_(i=1)^p▒γ_(i∆ Y_(t-i) ) +ε_t(3) In above equation ∆ represents first difference, Y denotes dependent variable, t reflects time trend and ε_t shows the error term. Further, P is the optimal lag length andα,β and γ denote the parameters under considerations to be tested. b_1t is included for the trend which may be eliminated in case variables do not reflect a time trend. However, as precautionary measure, unit root has been tested using both only intercept and intercept with trend. The results of ADF test (table-3) shows that all the variables are stationary at the first difference.

Table-3: Result of Unit Root Analysis using ADF

Lags: Testing down from 9 lags

Criterion: Schwarz Information Criterion (BIC)

Variables

P-Value at I(0)

P-Value at I(1)

 

With intercept

With intercept

and trend

With intercept

With intercept and trend

Gross Domestic Product (LNGDP)

0.9539

0.3259

0.0006

0.0041

Corporate Taxes (LNCT)

0.9052

0.3696

0.0000

0.0001

 Indirect Taxes (LNIDT)

0.7709

0.3235

0.0000

0.0000

Personal Income Taxes (LNPIT)

0.9576

0.4762

0.0000

0.0000

4.3. Johansen Cointegration

When the variables are found to be stationary at first differences, the application of the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method may yield spurious regressions. In such cases, the Johansen Cointegration test may be applied which assumes that a combination of variables may move together. However, for applying Johansen Cointegration, all the variables should be integrated into the same order. Since in this study all the four variables have been found stationary at first differences, Johansen and Juselius (1990) method is applied to identify the number of cointegrating vectors. As the first step, the VAR lag selection test is applied for selecting the appropriate lag length. The results of the VAR lag selection test (Table-4) show 1 lag as the most appropriate so the Johansen Cointegration test is conducted at lag 1.

Table-4: Result of VAR lag section test

 Lag

LogL

LR

FPE

AIC

SC

HQ

0

-52.29078

NA 

 0.000171

 2.680513

 2.846006

 2.741173

1

 186.2373

  420.2638*

  4.31e-09*

 -7.916062*

 -7.088600*

 -7.612764*

2

 202.1181

 24.95554

 4.43e-09

-7.910385

-6.420954

-7.364450

3

 215.0272

 17.82690

 5.43e-09

-7.763201

-5.611801

-6.974628

4

 233.9826

 22.56597

 5.28e-09

-7.903935

-5.090566

-6.872724

 * indicates lag order selected by the criterion

 LR: sequential modified LR test statistic (each test at 5% level)

 FPE: Final prediction error

 AIC: Akaike information criterion

 SC: Schwarz information criterion

HQ: Hannan-Quinn information criterion

For the testing hypothesis, two popular tests under Johansen Cointegration are the "Trace test" and "Max-Eigenvalue test”. The number of cointegrating vectors under Johansen Cointegration should be lesser than the number of variables under study. Thus, for proper long term relation, the number of cointegrating vectors should be n-1. Since, in the present study, the number of variables is four, the number of cointegrating vectors should at most be three. Thus, the following hypothesizes are set for deciding the number of cointegrating vectors among the variables:

variables:
Ho: There is no cointegrating vector among the variables
H1: There is at most one cointegrating vector among the variables
H2: There are at most two cointegrating vectors among the variables
H3: There are at most three cointegrating vectors among the variables

Results of both the Trace test and the Maximum Eigenvalue test have identified one cointegrating vector at 0.05 level (Table-5 and Table-6)

Table-5: Results of Unrestricted Cointegration Rank Test (Trace)

Hypothesized

No. of CE(s)

Eigenvalue

Trace Statistic

0.05

Critical Value

Prob.**

None *

 0.569959

 59.86292

 47.85613

 0.0025

At most 1

 0.323816

 22.73244

 29.79707

 0.2594

At most 2

 0.114467

 5.515657

 15.49471

 0.7519

At most 3

 0.003783

 0.166774

 3.841466

 0.6830

 Trace test indicates 1 cointegratingeqn(s) at the 0.05 level

 * denotes rejection of the hypothesis at the 0.05 level

 **MacKinnon-Haug-Michelis (1999) p-values

Table-6: Results of Unrestricted Cointegration Rank Test (Maximum Eigenvalue)

Hypothesized

No. of CE(s)

Eigenvalue

Max-Eigen Statistic

0.05

Critical Value

Prob.**

None *

 0.569959

 37.13047

 27.58434

 0.0022

At most 1

 0.323816

 17.21679

 21.13162

 0.1620

At most 2

 0.114467

 5.348883

 14.26460

 0.6973

At most 3

 0.003783

 0.166774

 3.841466

 0.6830

 Max-eigenvalue test indicates 1 cointegrating eqn(s) at the 0.05 level

 * denotes rejection of the hypothesis at the 0.05 level

 **MacKinnon-Haug-Michelis (1999) p-values

4.4. Vector Error Correction Model (VECM)

Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) may be applied to study the long run and short-run relationship among the variables and also the speed at which equilibrium is restored after a given shock in any of the variables. However, for the applicability of this model Johansen test must identify one or more cointegrating vectors. Firstly the basic equation of VAR model is given as under: Y_t = α_t + β_1 y_(t-1) +〖 β〗_2 y_(t-2) + ……… β_p y_(t-p)+ ε_t (4) After this, the VECM representation of VAR model may be given as under 〖∆Y〗_t= α_t + Π_(Y_(t-1) )+∑_(i=1)^(p-1)▒Γ_(i ∆Y_(t-i) ) + ε_t(5) The equation (5) shows a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) having order p-1 where Π commonly denoted as αβ’ represents long term relation between the variables. Since, the results of Johansen Cointegration has identified one cointegrating vector, the study proceeds to apply VECM to evaluate relation between the variables. The Results of the VECM are shown in table-6. As per results, following long run equation may be given lnGDP_t = -0.606039lnCT_t + 0.150670 lnPIT_t-0.537524 lnIDT_t-3.552687+ε_1t(6) The above equation (7) shows positive long run relation of GDP with Corporate Taxes and Indirect Taxes and negative long run relationship with Personal Income Taxes. Thus, 1% increase in Corporate Taxes may increase GDP by 0.60% and 1% increase in Indirect Taxes may increase GDP by 0.53%. While 1% increase in Personal Income Taxes may decrease GDP by 0.15%.

Table-7: Results of Vector Error Correction Model (VECM)

 Vector Error Correction Estimates

 Date: 10/13/19   Time: 08:36

 Sample (adjusted): 3 46

 Included observations: 44 after adjustments

Standard errors in ( ) & t-statistics in [ ]

CointegratingEq: 

CointEq1

LNGDP(-1)

 1.000000

LNCT(-1)

-0.606039

 (0.08316)

[-7.28805]

LNPIT(-1)

 0.150670

 (0.04307)

[ 3.49839]

LNIDT(-1)

-0.537524

 (0.06583)

[-8.16514]

C

-3.552687

 

Error Correction:

D(LNGDP)

D(LNCT)

D(LNPIT)

D(LNIDT)

CointEq1

-0.097395

 (0.03772)

[-2.58210]

 0.514175

 (0.18235)

[ 2.81976]

 0.053540

 (0.47829)

[ 0.11194]

 0.244523

 (0.12504)

[ 1.95555]

D(LNGDP(-1))

 0.323337

 (0.15117)

[ 2.13884]

 1.569191

 (0.73083)

[ 2.14715]

 0.769730

 (1.91693)

[ 0.40154]

 0.937412

 (0.50115)

[ 1.87052]

D(LNCT(-1))

-0.012390

 (0.03337)

[-0.37130]

 0.216613

 (0.16132)

[ 1.34277]

 0.212830

 (0.42313)

[ 0.50299]

 0.056300

 (0.11062)

[ 0.50895]

D(LNPIT(-1))

-0.006621

 (0.01304)

[-0.50773]

-0.116302

 (0.06304)

[-1.84477]

-0.252520

 (0.16536)

[-1.52707]

-0.080184

 (0.04323)

[-1.85477]

D(LNIDT(-1))

-0.134785

 (0.04759)

[-2.83227]

-0.161597

 (0.23006)

[-0.70240]

 0.083418

 (0.60344)

[ 0.13824]

 0.009104

 (0.15776)

[ 0.05771]

C

 0.102772

 (0.01812)

[ 5.67172]

-0.044369

 (0.08760)

[-0.50651]

 0.058255

 (0.22977)

[ 0.25354]

 0.004359

 (0.06007)

[ 0.07256]

 

 R-squared

 0.400915

 0.233801

 0.070169

 0.160171

 Adj. R-squared

 0.322088

 0.132986

-0.052177

 0.049667

 Sum sq. resids

 0.021366

 0.499331

 3.435352

 0.234798

 S.E. equation

 0.023712

 0.114631

 0.300673

 0.078606

 F-statistic

 5.086009

 2.319099

 0.573529

 1.449464

 Log likelihood

 105.4303

 36.09757

-6.331748

 52.69752

 Akaike AIC

-4.519561

-1.368072

 0.560534

-2.122615

 Schwarz SC

-4.276262

-1.124773

 0.803833

-1.879316

 Mean dependent

 0.124116

 0.145606

 0.155119

 0.118321

 S.D. dependent

 0.028799

 0.123109

 0.293123

 0.080634

 Determinant resid covariance (dof adj.)                                                    2.30E-09

 Determinant resid covariance                                                                   1.28E-09

 Log likelihood                                                                                           200.8016

 Akaike information criterion                                                                   -7.854617

 Schwarz criterion                                                                                     -6.719224

Short run equation may be reproduced as below 〖∆LNGDP〗_t = - 0.097 〖ECT〗_(t-1) + 〖0.323 ∆LNGDP〗_(t-1) - 〖0.012 ∆LNCT〗_(t-1) - 〖0.006 ∆LNPIT〗_(t-1) -0.134 〖∆LNIDT〗_(t-1)+ 0.102 (9) The speed at which equilibrium restored due to a shock in one variable is measured by the Error Correction Coefficient. However, the Error Correction Coefficient needs to be negative as well as significant. Table-8 shows that the value of the error correction coefficient is -0.097395 with a probability of 0.0138. Thus, the error correction coefficient is negative and significant in the present study. Further, the coefficient of Indirect Taxes also negative and significant and hence it can be emphasized that in the short run also Indirect Taxes have a positive influence on the GDP. Further, since coefficients of Personal Income Taxes and Corporate Taxes are negative but not significant, Wald Test is estimated to evaluate short-run relation between Personal Income Taxes and Corporate Taxes to GDP.

Table-8: Probabilities of coefficients of VECM

Dependent Variable: D(LNGDP)

Method: Least Squares

Date: 10/13/19   Time: 09:34

Sample (adjusted): 3 46

Included observations: 44 after adjustments

D(LNGDP) = C(1)*( LNGDP(-1) - 0.606039159171*LNCT(-1) + 0.150670152967*LNPIT(-1) - 0.537523745633*LNIDT(-1) - 3.55268722392 ) + C(2)*D(LNGDP(-1)) + C(3)*D(LNCT(-1)) + C(4) *D(LNPIT(-1)) + C(5)*D(LNIDT(-1)) + C(6)

 

Coefficient

Std. Error

t-Statistic

Prob.  

C(1)

-0.097395

0.037719

-2.582103

0.0138

C(2)

0.323337

0.151174

2.138841

0.0389

C(3)

-0.012390

0.033369

-0.371298

0.7125

C(4)

-0.006621

0.013041

-0.507729

0.6146

C(5)

-0.134785

0.047589

-2.832267

0.0074

C(6)

0.102772

0.018120

5.671721

0.0000

R-squared                                0.400915

Adjusted R-squared                 0.322088

S.E. of regression                    0.023712

Sum squared resid   0.021366

Log likelihood                          105.4303

F-statistic                                 5.086009

Prob (F-statistic)                       0.001149

Mean dependent var          0.124116

S.D. dependent var   0.028799

Akaike info criterion                                             -4.519561

Schwarz criterion                                                -4.276262

Hannan-Quinn criter.                                           -4.429334

Durbin-Watson stat                                              1.782546

For estimating Wald test following hypothesis are set
H0: C(3)=C(=4)=0
H1: C(3)=C(4)≠0
Wald test results accepts the null hypothesis that there is no short run causality flowing from Corporate Taxes and Personal Income Taxes to GDP (Table-9)      

Table-9: Wald Test

Test Statistic

Value

df

Probability

F-statistic

 0.242539

(2, 38)

 0.7858

Chi-square

 0.485077

 2

 0.7846

Null Hypothesis: C(3)=C(4)=0

Null Hypothesis Summary:

Normalized Restriction (= 0)

Value

Std. Err.

C(3)

-0.006621

 0.013041

C(4)

-0.012390

 0.033369

Restrictions are linear in coefficients.

4.5. Variance Decomposition and Impulse Response

The results of the estimated variance decomposition have been shown in table-10. Variance Decomposition identifies the effect on one variable due to a shock in other variables. It is evident that in the first year due to its own shock, 100% fluctuations have been caused in GDP. In the second year, a shock in GDP will cause 93% fluctuations in GDP while a shock in Corporate Taxes will cause 1.32% fluctuations in GDP, a shock in Personal Income taxes will result in 3.49% fluctuations in GDP and a shock in Indirect taxes will cause 2.13% variability in GDP. In the fifth year, a shock in GDP will cause 80% fluctuations in GDP while a shock in Corporate Taxes will cause 8.86% fluctuations in GDP, a shock in Personal Income taxes will result in 10.24% fluctuations in GDP and a shock in Indirect taxes will cause 0.76% variability in GDP. In the tenth year, a shock in GDP will cause 73% fluctuations in GDP while a shock in Corporate Taxes will cause 12% fluctuations in GDP, a shock in Personal Income taxes will result in 13% fluctuations in GDP and a shock in Indirect taxes will cause 0.27% variability in GDP. In the short run and long run both GDP in India is more affected due to a change in Personal Income Taxes where unfortunately the study has identified higher tax evasions. The same results are also reflected by Impulse Response of the variables as shown in figure-3.

Table-10: Variance Decomposition

 Variance Decomposition of LNGDP:

 Period

S.E.

LNGDP

LNCT

LNPIT

LNIDT

 1

 0.023712

 100.0000

 0.000000

 0.000000

 0.000000

 2

 0.039249

 93.05101

 1.324825

 3.493422

 2.130748

 3

 0.053573

 87.86793

 4.466828

 5.911391

 1.753849

 4

 0.069279

 83.29133

 7.178602

 8.414558

 1.115513

 5

 0.085179

 80.12465

 8.862130

 10.24774

 0.765479

 6

 0.100242

 77.95092

 9.989304

 11.48169

 0.578085

 7

 0.114363

 76.36132

 10.82617

 12.35160

 0.460910

 8

 0.127667

 75.16214

 11.45801

 13.00010

 0.379755

 9

 0.140218

 74.24408

 11.93756

 13.49665

 0.321712

 10

 0.152057

 73.52763

 12.31004

 13.88330

 0.279025

 Variance Decomposition of LNCT:

 Period

S.E.

LNGDP

LNCT

LNPIT

LNIDT

 1

 0.114631

 26.59935

 73.40065

 0.000000

 0.000000

 2

 0.175677

 37.22351

 58.83994

 0.934151

 3.002392

 3

 0.214514

 36.32709

 54.42123

 0.636167

 8.615519

 4

 0.243136

 34.17571

 53.69798

 0.542721

 11.58358

 5

 0.267417

 32.95596

 53.66769

 0.496495

 12.87986

 6

 0.289320

 32.24218

 53.45725

 0.468816

 13.83176

 7

 0.309293

 31.61799

 53.19823

 0.467449

 14.71633

 8

 0.327695

 31.04672

 53.00826

 0.482785

 15.46224

 9

 0.344900

 30.56318

 52.86837

 0.503014

 16.06543

 10

 0.361167

 30.15744

 52.74741

 0.524074

 16.57108

 Variance Decomposition of LNPIT:

 Period

S.E.

LNGDP

LNCT

LNPIT

LNIDT

 1

 0.300673

 0.302194

 2.779583

 96.91822

 0.000000

 2

 0.379654

 0.452320

 3.836228

 95.70145

 0.010005

 3

 0.449722

 0.525131

 4.145885

 95.27434

 0.054647

 4

 0.510290

 0.515824

 4.383488

 95.00859

 0.092096

 5

 0.564162

 0.520532

 4.610541

 94.77034

 0.098584

 6

 0.612858

 0.547125

 4.802009

 94.55122

 0.099647

 7

 0.657815

 0.575692

 4.954074

 94.36807

 0.102165

 8

 0.699853

 0.599621

 5.079213

 94.21648

 0.104690

 9

 0.739458

 0.620655

 5.185536

 94.08751

 0.106302

 10

 0.777003

 0.639864

 5.276378

 93.97637

 0.107390

 Variance Decomposition of LNIDT:

 Period

S.E.

LNGDP

LNCT

LNPIT

LNIDT

 1

 0.078606

 16.87707

 2.406459

 2.538523

 78.17795

 2

 0.114240

 28.43313

 4.814103

 1.227740

 65.52503

 3

 0.134438

 31.23590

 7.256592

 1.034706

 60.47280

 4

 0.150921

 31.28080

 8.598673

 1.081985

 59.03854

 5

 0.166737

 31.16515

 9.244270

 1.061576

 58.52901

 6

 0.181442

 31.26687

 9.704525

 1.022530

 58.00608

 7

 0.194859

 31.35523

 10.10137

 1.004282

 57.53912

 8

 0.207328

 31.37526

 10.42038

 0.998561

 57.20580

 9

 0.219110

 31.37312

 10.67020

 0.994796

 56.96188

 10

 0.230304

 31.37147

 10.87406

 0.991453

 56.76302

4.6. Granger Causality

Granger Causality tests the directional relationship between the variables. The test emphasizes which variable causes the other variable. The directional relationship between the variables either may be one-sided or both sided. The results of Granger Causality are reflected in table-11. The results show that GDP and Personal Income Taxes Granger cause each other. Corporate Taxes Granger causes Personal Income Taxes however, the reverse is not true.

Table-11: Granger Causality Test

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Null Hypothesis:

Obs

F-Statistic

Prob. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 LNPIT does not Granger Cause LNGDP

 45

 4.12882

0.0485

 LNGDP does not Granger Cause LNPIT

 5.77121

0.0208

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 LNCT does not Granger Cause LNGDP

 45

 0.40677

0.5271

 LNGDP does not Granger Cause LNCT

 2.38837

0.1297

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 LNIDT does not Granger Cause LNGDP

 45

 1.15073

0.2895

 LNGDP does not Granger Cause LNIDT

 3.92745

0.0541

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 LNCT does not Granger Cause LNPIT

 45

 5.31901

0.0261

 LNPIT does not Granger Cause LNCT

 0.31198

0.5794

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 LNIDT does not Granger Cause LNPIT

 45

 2.87974

0.0971

 LNPIT does not Granger Cause LNIDT

 0.14262

0.7076

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 LNIDT does not Granger Cause LNCT

 45

 0.93729

0.3385

 LNCT does not Granger Cause LNIDT

 1.07678

0.3054

 

 

 

 

Findings of the study

The study has identified a significant long-run positive relation between Indirect Taxes and Corporate Taxes to GDP in India while Personal Income Tax has a negative impact on GDP in the long run. In the short run, only Indirect Taxes has a positive impact on the GDP. Out of the three independent variables selected in the study, Personal Income Tax has a more negative impact on GDP as compared to Corporate Taxes and Indirect Taxes and this impact is bidirectional too. The findings of this paper are in line with the findings of Venkataraman and Urmi (2017) who showed Personal Income Taxes as having no impact, Corporate Taxes and customs duty as having a significant positive impact on the economic growth of India. Matallah & Matallah (2017) also asserted the negative impact of Direct Taxes and the positive impact of Indirect Taxes in the long run in Algeria. The same findings were also arrived at by Vazquez et al (2009), Dackehag & Hansson (2012) and Geetanjali & Venugopal (2017) regarding the negative impact of Direct Taxes on economic growth in the long run. Unnecessary complicacy into direct tax systems, higher marginal rates of personal taxes and weak enforcement were some of the issues that were resulting in a large number of taxpayers to either escape the tax laws or paying lesser taxes Chelliah, R. (2006). However contrary to Johansson et al (2008), the impact of Corporate Taxes has been found positive in the long run in India

Conclusion

To analyze the impact of tax structures in India on its economic growth, the study has examined the impacts of Personal Income Taxes, Corporate Taxes and Indirect Taxes in India from 1973-74 to 2018-19. The results highlight that Corporate Taxes and Indirect Taxes have positive impact while Personal Income Tax negative impact on economic growth of India in the long run. The results are in line with other studies conducted in different countries across the globe. The important structural changes in taxes domain include Goods and Services Tax which has been implemented since first July, 2017 and Direct Taxes code which is yet to be implemented. The real effects of these structural changes may be evaluated after some years when adequate data will be available for research. As conclusion, it is suggested to reduce slowly Personal Income Taxes by chronologically increasing Corporate Taxes and Indirect Taxes for overall economic growth of India

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