Hidden tax

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A hidden tax is a tax that is not visible to the taxpayer. These taxes can raise prices of goods and lower salaries for workers. Hidden taxes, although hidden, can decrease the purchasing power of individuals significantly.

Many kinds of tax behave like hidden taxes:[1]

Corporate income tax
Because of this tax, shareholders and employees get less dividends and salary. Also the tax is hidden in the cost of goods and services and, therefore, paid by the consumer.
Tariffs or import taxes
It lowers competition by raising the price of imports and products produced outside.
Sin taxes
Taxes on alcohol and cigarettes are highly regressive.
Travel taxes
Utilities taxes
According to a 1998 study, taxes take up 48% of the price of gasoline.[1][2]
Inflation tax
It is a hidden regressive tax.[3]
Financial repression
A range of measures which governments can employ to reduce their debt, which are often accompanied by inflation.
Profits from government-owned corporations
Especially when a government-owned corporation enjoys a legally protected monopoly and records excessive profits, such profits may be criticized as hidden taxation. Governments in some jurisdictions directly own utilities (making such profits related to utility taxes) and some monopolize the alcohol trade (making such profits related to sin taxes).
Sales taxes such as turnover taxes[4]

United States

A study by the Institute for Policy Innovation suggested that hidden taxes account $2,462 per capita.[1]

Hidden tax

Quintiles of Household Cash Money Income according to the Tax Foundation, Calendar Year 2004[5]

  Bottom
20 Percent 		Second
20 Percent 		Third
20 Percent 		Fourth
20 Percent 		Top 20
Percent
Total Federal Taxes 38.9% 55.7% 61.5% 64.4% 70.2%
Income 4.0% 12.0% 17.6% 22.6% 35.7%
Payroll 21.2% 30.6% 32.0% 30.4% 22.5%
Corporate Income 6.3% 8.4% 8.2% 8.2% 8.1%
Gas 1.6% 1.2% 1.0% 0.8% 0.6%
Alcoholic Beverages 0.8% 0.4% 0.4% 0.3% 0.2%
Tobacco 1.2% 0.6% 0.3% 0.2% 0.1%
Diesel Fuel 0.2% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3% 0.3%
Air Transport 0.5% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4% 0.4%
Other Excise 1.0% 0.6% 0.4% 0.4% 0.2%
Customs, Duties, etc. 2.2% 1.2% 0.9% 0.8% 0.5%
Estate & Gift 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.7%

.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Hidden Taxes: How Much do You Really Pay?" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  2. ^ Ed Brown, “Where Your Gas Money Goes,” Fortune, April 27, 1998.
  3. ^ The Inflation Tax Archived 2006-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Hy-Sang Lee (2001). North Korea: A Strange Socialist Fortress. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 70–. ISBN 978-0-275-96917-2.
  5. ^ Gerald Prante and Andrew Chamberlain, "Who Pays Taxes and Who Receives Government Spending? An Analysis of Federal, State and Local Tax and Spending Distributions, 1991-2004," Tax Foundation Working Paper, No. 1, March 2007, available at [1] Archived 2008-05-17 at the Wayback Machine