S. N. Shalyaev, O. S. Shalyaeva The Role of VAT in Reducing the Budget Deficit

Abstract: To date, the VAT is a major part of tax revenues in 136 countries and it accounts for approximately 25% of global tax revenues. In Russia, the VAT amounts to about a quarter of the Russia’s federal budget (or 5.3% of GDP). However, the VAT is not only a budget revenue generating tax but also the shadiest one. To date, the largest share of the shadow economy is connected to the VAT. The countries belonging to the OECD annually assess the budgetary losses resulting from low VAT revenues. The amount of budgetary losses due to low VAT revenues is calculated by comparing the amount of theoretical tax receipts estimated on the basis of macroeconomic indicators to the total national expenditure subject to VAT. The calculation of the tax gap on the basis of macroeconomic indicators allows to determine most accurately the budget shortfall caused by VAT revenues. This technique has several important advantages against other techniques. First, it is easy to calculate it from the available data, and second, it provides a clearly normative reference point, i. e. the uniform VAT imposed on all final consumption.

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