Answer:
It depends on the relative elasticties (ie. how elastic demand is/inelastic supply is). The price received by suppliers would decrease by $20 if demand is perfectly elastic: the burden of the tax falls primarily on the supplier since their supply is inelastic.
Therefore:
The tax will raise the equilibrium price from the old level (P*) to the new price paid by consumers (Pc). The price that producers will receive (Pp) is the amount consumers pay minus the amount of the tax, or Pc - t. (depending on the relative elasticities)
Explanation:
Key points :
Depending on the circumstance (relative elasticities of demand and supply), the burden of tax can fall more on consumers or on producers.
Typically, the incidence, or burden, of a tax falls both on the consumers and producers of the taxed good. But if we want to predict which group will bear most of the burden, all we need to do is examine the elasticity of demand and supply.
The tax burden falls on the more inelastic side of the market. In this case since supply is more inelastic than demand, the tax burden will fall more on them.
When a tax is introduced in a market with an inelastic supply, the sellers have no choice but to accept lower prices.
Further explanation:
By introducing a tax, the government essentially creates a wedge between the price paid by consumers, Pc and the price received by producers, Pp. In other words, of the total price paid by consumers, part is retained by the sellers and part is paid to the government in the form of a tax. he distance between Pc an Pp is the tax rate. The new market price is Pc , but sellers receive only Pp per unit sold since they pay Pc - Pp to the government.
Summary:
The tax incidence depends on the relative price elasticity of supply and demand. When supply is more elastic than demand, buyers bear most of the tax burden. When demand is more elastic than supply, producers bear most of the cost of the tax. Tax revenue is larger the more inelastic the demand and supply are.
Sellers (suppliers) have to carry a higher tax burden if supply is less elastic than demand. In other words, the side that has a relatively more inelastic curve (i.e., reacts less to price changes) has to carry a larger share of the tax burden, regardless of who the tax is initially levied on.
