Law Commons^™

Re-Evaluating Turnover/Gross Receipts Taxes: Their Myths And Their Realities, Richard Pomp

Faculty Articles and Papers

Turnover taxes have a storied history dating back to ancient Athens, and are starting to make a comeback in the States. A gross receipts or turnover tax is levied every time a good or service “turns over,” that is, transferred from one entity to another for consideration. The resulting gross receipt is subject to tax. The tax base is “turnover” and the measure of the tax is “gross receipts.”

A turnover tax applies to both services and tangible items ranging from sales of business inputs to sales to end users alike; in essence it taxes business activity, whereas a retail …

Turnover Taxes: Their Origin, Fall From Grace, And Resurrection, Richard Pomp

Faculty Articles and Papers

The turnover tax, a hallmark of developing nations and even once blamed for Spain’s decline, has made a comeback in the states, starting with Ohio.

A turnover tax is a gross receipts tax that is applied every time a good or service “turns over,” that is, every time the good or service transfers from one entity to another for consideration. The tax base is therefore turnover, and the measure of the tax is gross receipts.

In this article, Professor Richard Pomp examines the turnover tax’s deep roots dating back to ancient Athens, and tracks its course from the time the …

Resisting The Siren Song Of Gross Receipts Taxes: From The Middle Ages To Maryland’S Tax On Digital Advertising-Abstract, Richard Pomp

Faculty Articles and Papers

A turnover tax, more commonly known as a gross receipts tax, has a long and sordid history. The tax has ancient roots, first appearing when economies were primitive and underdeveloped, with few alternatives for raising revenue. A turnover tax makes no pretense of taxing profits, income, consumption, wealth, or other bases that have come to be accepted as legitimate around the world. Instead, it taxes business activity, and is fundamentally different in concept, and inferior to, either a well-designed retail sales tax or a value-added tax.

Economists throughout the ages have nearly universally condemned turnover taxes; some even blame the …