Taxes

Tax structures (the specifics of how governments collect taxes) are determined by national, regional, and local jurisdictions in order to meet governmental funding needs. Major sources of government tax revenue include:

• Taxes on income. These taxes apply to individuals, corporations, and often other types of legal entities. For individuals, income types can include salaries, interest, dividends, realized capital gains, and unrealized capital gains, among others. Income tax structure refers to how and when different types of income are taxed.
• Wealth-based taxes. These include taxes on the holding of certain types of property (e.g., real estate) and taxes on the transfer of wealth (e.g., taxes on inheritance).
• Taxes on consumption. These include sales taxes (which are taxes collected in one step from the final consumer on the price of a good or service) and value-added taxes (which are collected in intermediate steps in the course of producing a good or service but borne ultimately by the final consumer).