The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (December 2010) |
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Taxation |
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An aspect of fiscal policy |
A tax holiday is a temporary reduction or elimination of a tax. It is synonymous with tax abatement, tax subsidy or tax reduction. Governments usually create tax holidays as incentives for business investment, although the arrangement has also been characterized as a form of corporate welfare that leads to a redistribution of resources away from smaller businesses and private citizens and towards monopolies and other forms of consolidated wealth.
Tax relief can be provided in the form of tax concessions to assure the investment of new businesses or the retention of existing ones.[1] Tax holidays have been granted by governments at national, sub-national, and local levels, and have included income, property, sales, VAT, and other taxes. Some tax holidays are extra-statutory concessions, where governing bodies grant a reduction in tax that is not necessarily authorized within the law. In developing countries, governments sometimes reduce or eliminate corporate taxes for the purpose of attracting foreign direct investment or stimulating growth in selected industries.
A tax holiday may be granted to particular activities,[2] in particular to develop a given area of business,[3] or to particular taxpayers.[4] Researchers found that on sales tax holidays, households increase the quantities of clothing and shoes bought by over 49% and 45%, respectively, relative to what they buy on average.[5]