Taxes and Public Finance

On a general level, tax collections provide a revenue source to support the outlays or primary activities of a government.

In economics, deadweight loss is a loss of economic efficiency that can occur when equilibrium for a good or service is not Pareto optimal.

Tax laws are passed by Congress and enforced by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) at the federal level.

Taxes can be evaluated based on an average impact or a marginal impact and can be categorized as progressive, regressive, or proportional.

Tax incidence is the analysis of the effect of a particular tax on the distribution of economic welfare.

Tax incidence or tax burden does not depend on where the revenue is collected, but on the price elasticity of demand and price elasticity of supply.

Taxes may be considered equitable if they are administered in accordance with the definition of either horizontal or vertical equity.

Taxes are the primary source of government revenue.

Taxes are the primary source of revenue for state and local governments; income, property, and sales taxes are common examples of state and local taxes.

Many countries impose taxes on a company's earnings along with aspects of doing business. Two examples of these are corporate and payroll taxes.