The VAT laggard: a comparative history of U.S. resistance to national consumption taxes

Speaker: Ajay K Mehrotra (Northwestern Pritzker School of Law)

Date & time: Thursday 16 February 2023, 12.30pm-1.30pm

Venue: Seminar room 1.13 Coombs Extension (Building 8) Fellows Road

The United States is the only advanced industrial country without a value-added tax (VAT). This project explores why the U.S., unlike many other countries such as Australia, continues to reject a national consumption tax like the VAT or Goods & Services Tax, despite several attempts at adopting such a levy.

Since the VAT globally funds robust social-welfare spending in many countries, this project about “Why no US VAT” seeks to shed light on comparative beliefs about tax law, fiscal policy, and social-welfare spending.

Further information available here.

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