Tax Pyramiding and Tax Exporting in Hawaii: An Input-Output Analysis

Abstract

Tax pyramiding occurs when a sales or gross receipts tax is imposed more than once on the value of a good or service at different levels in the marketing system. Pyramiding results in higher prices for consumers and can be discriminatory if goods or industries are effectively taxed at different rates. The research reported measures the extent of pyramiding of Hawaii's gross receipts tax to discover its impact on prices and its discriminatory biases. Tax exporting is the shifting of taxes to persons and entities residing in other jurisdictions. It is politically attractive in export-oriented economies because it produces a lower tax burden on the resident population. The research reported estimates how state and local tax burdens (with the exception of the state income tax) are distributed between Hawaii residents and out-of-state residents.