In 2001 the Russian government introduced a bold reform of its tax system, which included the adoption of a flat-rate income tax. Until then, only a few countries, including the transition countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, had adopted a flat-rate income tax. This reform has naturally...

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought enormous political, economic, and social challenges. Since 1991 fiscal reform has been a pillar of Russia's reform agenda. This book analyzes the effort to adopt a modern tax code where previously there were few recognizable taxes, establish an...

Using micro-level data, we examine the effects of Russia's 2001 flat rate income tax reform on consumption, income, and tax evasion. We use the gap between household expenditures and reported earnings as a proxy for tax evasion with data from a household panel for 1998-2004. Utilizing...