A lump-sum tax is a tax that is a fixed amount, no matter the change in circumstance of the taxed entity. (A lump-sum subsidy or lump-sum redistribution is defined similarly.)[citation needed]
It is one of the various modes used for taxation: income, things owned (property taxes), money spent (sales taxes), miscellaneous (excise taxes). It is a regressive tax, such that the lower the income is, the higher the percentage of income applicable to the tax. An example is a poll tax to vote, which is unchanged no matter what the income of the voter. Other related examples include personal property taxes on cars or business equipment regardless of income or ability to pay. Real estate taxes that are levied on a per lot or per unit basis are another example; some condominium fees could be regarded as having most of the characteristics of a lump sum tax (other than being avoidable by not owning property in a condominium).[citation needed]
In economic theory, a lump-sum tax is considered to be pareto-efficient because it does not interfere with optimal market mechanisms. A lump-sum tax will only reduce people's available income and therefore increase their budget constraint, but leave the relative price of goods unchanged. In basic microeconomics consumer theory, this will then lead to an income effect: consumers buy less in general (inwards shift of the budget line). There will be no substitution effect.(Hindriks, Myles, 2006)
Therefore, this form of taxation may have the advantage of not contributing to an excess burden of taxation, and loss in economic efficiency that results from taxes reducing incentives for production or consumption.
In practice, lump-sum t