Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from On the Shifting and Incidence of Taxation
Finally, we must not confound the incidence of taxation with the effect of taxation. A tax may have a great many effects. It may diminish indus try and impoverish individuals; it may in some cases stimulate production and enrich individuals; it may be an unmitigated curse to society; it may be a nec essary evil; it may be an unqualified boon to the community regarded as a whole. With none of these problems does the study Of incidence busy itself. All that we have to investigate is: On whom does the tax ultimately fall? When we once know this we can then proceed to the further discussion of the effects produced on the various classes or individuals by the pressure of taxation. The problem of incidence con cerns itself simply with the one question of fact, who really pays the tax? It does not pretend to unravel the final consequences of taxation. The Shifting is the process; the incidence is the result; the changes in the distribution Of wealth are the effect.
The discussion of incidence thus depends entirely On the investigation of the Shiftings of taxation. The real problem before us is to ascertain the condition according to which a tax is Shifted onwards, back wards or not at all. Only when we understand why and how a tax is shifted, can we discover its actual incidence.
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