ABSTRACT
The theory of tax incidence or, as it is usually termed by German writers, tax shifting, is not a subject that has received much attention on the part of more recent financial theorists. Among older economists, above all the English writers Smith, Ricardo and Mill, studies of tax incidence still constituted a major part (in the case of Ricardo even the major part) of the theory of public finance. In more modern economic theorists, on the other hand, this subject, which is as important as it is difficult, is mostly discussed with the utmost brevity and with a superficiality that stands in stark contrast to the comprehensive, meticulous scrutiny accorded other details of taxation procedures, details that are often probably far less important.
