Policy and Internet Call for Papers: Special Issue on Internet Taxation

Policy and Internet, the first major peer-reviewed multi-disciplinary journal investigating the impact of the Internet on public policy, is inviting submissions for a special issue on Internet taxation, to be published in October 2011 [submission deadline: May 2011].

With the global explosion of Internet use in recent years, researchers and policymakers have struggled to understand and monitor the implications of this new medium. The seamless transmission of digitally malleable products across jurisdictions, with the potential for bypassing of governmental controls, leads to many unique problems in Internet taxation.

Online purchase of goods (such as books, cigarettes, and music) in lower-tax jurisdictions can facilitate tax avoidance and evasion in higher-tax jurisdictions. Tax revenue losses can occur when services (such as gambling) that are banned in one jurisdiction are accessed by consumers over the Internet. Internet gambling has also undermined the taxation potential of jurisdictions where gambling is legal.

This special issue of Policy & Internet calls for cross-disciplinary research on Internet taxation. The issue will synthesize the extant research in the area and include recent research developments. The goal is to improve the understanding of the issues involved for both researchers and policy makers, to provide policy recommendations, and to suggest avenues for further research in the area. Currently, there appears to be a gap in this respect in the literature.

Examples of pertinent research questions include:

• Are particular products or industries especially vulnerable to tax leakages from Internet sales?

• How can the Internet be used effectively by government for tax collection and enforcement?

• What are the implications of Internet taxation for the shadow economy?

• How does the digital divide affect Internet tax avoidance and compliance?

• Does the structure / competitiveness of Internet markets affect the ability of governments to collect taxes?

• How are inter-country tax leakages due to Internet sales different from intra-country tax leakages, and what are the consequent differences in recommended tax policies?

• What are the distributional consequences of Internet tax avoidance?

Please contact the editors (policyandinternet@oii.ox.ac.uk) if you have any queries about how your paper might fit in the issue.

Paper Submissions

The online submission deadline for papers is 31 May 2011. Please indicate in a cover note that the paper is intended for the special issue. Authors are advised to consult the journal’s guide for authors before submitting their paper.

Authors: Submit your paper now (BEPress login page), or see the Guide for Authors.

About the Guest Editors

Rajeev K. Goel is Professor of Economics at Illinois State University. His research fields include economics of technical change, industrial organization / applied microeconomics, Internet economics, entrepreneurship, corruption, tobacco demand, and regulation. Dr Goel is the author of more than six dozen scholarly articles, two research books and serves on the editorial boards of three journals. His work on Internet economics and taxation has appeared in American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Applied Economics, Journal of Technology Transfer, Kyklos, Netnomics, and Public Finance Review.

Michael A. Nelson is Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Akron. His research fields include Internet economics, tobacco control policy, corruption, state and local finance, applied microeconomics, and economics program assessment. Dr Nelson has published extensively in a wide variety of areas, including on the topic of cross-border tobacco tax evasion, and his work has appeared in some of the leading journals of the discipline including the American Economic Review, Economic Inquiry, and the National Tax Journal.

About Policy and Internet

Policy and Internet aims to be the premier venue for scholars and researchers to set the public policy agenda in the digital era. The journal is edited by the Oxford Internet Institute (University of Oxford) for the Policy Studies Organization (PSO). It was established in 2009 as the first major peer-reviewed journal investigating the implications of the Internet and associated technologies for public policy.

The journal is fully multi-disciplinary in scope: perspectives from any academic discipline are welcomed, particularly political science, economics, law, sociology, information science, communications, computer science, psychology, management, geography and medicine. Topics range across policy sectors and regions of the world, including generalised, sectoral or country-specific policy effects. Approaches may include methodological innovation, theoretical development or new data.

The Editors are Professor Helen Margetts, Dr Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon and David Sutcliffe (University of Oxford). (See also the Policy and Internet Editorial Board) There are four issues a year, published by Berkeley Electronic Press.

Contact the Editors: policyandinternet@oii.ox.ac.uk