A calculation of the social returns to innovation /Benjamin F. Jones and Lawrence H. Summers --Innovation and human capital policy /John Van Reenen --Immigration policy levers for US innovation and start-ups /Sari Pekkala Kerr and William R. Kerr --Scientific grant funding /Pierre Azoulay and Danielle Li --Tax policy for innovation /Bronwyn H. Hall --Taxation and innovation: what do we know? /Ufuk Akcigit and Stefanie Stantcheva --Government incentives for entrepreneurship /Josh Lerner.

This chapter considers the relationship between the U.S. federal income tax system and innovation, using the sharing economy as a focal point for analysis. It makes two main points. First, the tax system is currently a questionable tool for encouraging innovation. Regulators are understandably concerned that taxpayers will use tax incentive provisions in unanticipated ways, and thus are inclined to tightly limit such provisions' scope. This reduces incentive provisions' net benefit to taxpayers, and can even cause such provisions to miss their marks entirely. Moreover, small and new companies are key drivers of innovation, and evidence suggests that they are relatively unresponsive to tax incentives. Second, innovation can help improve the tax system. To fix a problem, one must first identify it; innovation provides opportunities to see where tax law is achieving its goals and where it is falling short. The sharing economy experience suggests some strengths, such as the tax system's definition of income, as well as weaknesses, such as the dividing line between independent contractors and employees.

Collection of papers dealing with various aspects of the role of information technology in the administration of taxes.

New technologies are changing the way that tax administrations, taxpayers and their advisers interact, leading to a reduction in the compliance cost for taxpayers, a level playing field for large and small businesses, and fewer opportunities to engage in aggressive tax practices. Although entering a new world where processes are supported by machines inevitably disrupts traditional ways of working, the contributors to this indispensable book reveal the enormous potential of ‘tax technology’ to positively transform tax compliance, clearly showing both government and business how to manage the transition from the old to the new. With detailed treatment of the technology available in the tax field, the authors describe how to secure its benefits in such ways as the following: electronic balance sheets and invoices; automated transmission to tax authorities; innovative analytics applications; blockchain in tax law processes; process mining in VAT; real-time reporting with cryptography; and meeting the challenges to taxpayers’ rights to privacy and personal data protection. The contributions draw on an international conference held under the auspices of the Digital Economy Taxation Network at the Vienna University of Economics and Business in December 2020. The perspective throughout focuses on how to achieve better tax compliance at a lower cost. For this reason, this full-scale, practical guide on how to adapt tax law to new technologies and how to apply tax tech processes in practice will be welcomed by tax practitioners, tax administrations, and academics across the entire tax community.

This report draws on case studies to explore the relationship between environmentally-related taxation and innovation to see whether taxation can spur innovation and if so, what types.