Tax gradient : spatial aspects of fiscal competition

David R. Agrawal

State borders create a discontinuous tax treatment of retail sales. In a Nash game, local tax rates will be higher on the low-state-tax side of a border. Local taxes will decrease from the nearest high-tax border and increase from the low-tax border. Using driving time from state borders and all local sales tax rates, local tax rates on the low-tax side of the border are 1.25 percentage points higher, reducing the differential in state tax rates by over three-quarters. A ten minute increase in driving time from the nearest high-tax state lowers a border town’s local tax rate by 6%.

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Year of publication:	2015
Authors:	Agrawal, David R.
Publisher:	München : CESifo
Subject:	Umsatzsteuer \| Sales tax \| Einkaufsverhalten \| Shopping behaviour \| Steuerwettbewerb \| Tax competition \| Nash-Gleichgewicht \| Nash equilibrium \| Finanzbeziehungen \| Fiscal relations \| USA \| United States