Working Paper:
Abstract: This paper examines a life-cycle model incorporating entrepreneurial activity to assess tax policies that achieve specific revenue targets while minimizing welfare losses. We evaluate a range of tax instruments, including federal income tax, capital income tax, and consumption tax, to determine their relative efficiency in revenue generation and economic impact. Our findings indicate that increasing tax revenue through a combination of higher rates and progressivity in consumption taxation is particularly welfare-enhancing. Moreover, the optimal degree of consumption tax progressivity remains robust across different revenue targets, suggesting its effectiveness as a policy tool. The inclusion of entrepreneurship in the model plays a crucial role in shaping wealth distribution, underscoring its significance in tax policy design. These insights offer valuable guidance for policymakers seeking to optimize tax structures that balance fiscal sustainability with economic efficiency and equity.
Addressing Low Annuity Demand with Capital Taxes
--with Cagri Kumru and Meng Li
Abstract: This paper investigates the interaction between capital taxes and annuity demand, both analytically and quantitatively, using a life-cycle model that incorporates entrepreneurial activity and bequests. The analytical model reveals that the direction of the impact of capital taxes on annuity demand is theoretically ambiguous. The quantitative model successfully captures key features of the economy, including business investment, entrepreneurial heterogeneity, intergenerational wealth transmission, and wealth and income inequality. The findings indicate that annuity demand is responsive to changes in capital taxation, even under varying demographic conditions. Specifically, low annuity ownership can increase from around 5% in the real economy to more than 10% with reasonable capital tax rates. However, when the population continues to age, the government has to impose higher capital taxation to address low annuity demand.
Current Research:
Auditing Decisions and Income Tax Evasion
--with Jiu Lian and Shahar Rotberg
Income Taxation in Bangladesh: Facts and Parametric Estimates
Fiscal Policy, Child-Related Transfer, and Female Labour Supply: An Analysis of Gender-Sensitive Taxation and Labour Force Participation in Australia
--with Yurui Zhang
Addressing the Rising Revenue Requirements with Minimal Welfare Consequences:
RSE Macroeconomic Seminar, ANU (03 July 2024).
Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, ANU (05 July 2024).
38th Annual Australian PhD Conference in Economics and Business 2024 (20 Nov 2024). [Best Presentation Award]
Addressing Low Annuity Demand with Capital Taxes:
RSE 6th Annual PhD Workshop, ANU (27 Nov 2024).
CES China Annual Conference 2025
Income Taxation in Bangladesh: Facts and Parametric Estimates:
Staff Seminar, RAPID, Bangladesh (19 Jun 2025).
Tax Expenditure Reporting in Developing Countries: A Case Study on Bangladesh:
National Board of Revenue, Bangladesh (30 Nov 2021).
Publication:
Khan, M. O. F., Chowdhury, K., Bari, M. A., Chowdhury, M. M. I., & Rahman, M. M. (2023). Tax Expenditure Reporting in Developing Countries: A Case Study on Bangladesh. Journal of Tax Administration, 8(1), 104-131.
Research Collaboration with Professor Hans Fehr, University of Würzburg, Germany (24 Oct - 9 Dec 2023).
Research Collaboration at City University of Macau (July 2025).
PhD Internship at RAPID, Bangladesh (Jun-Oct, 2025)