PROGRESSIVITY AND REDISTRIBUTION IN NON-REVENUE NEUTRAL TAX REFORMS: THE LEVEL AND DISTANCE EFFECTS

Kakwani and Reynolds–Smolensky indices are used in the literature to measure the progressivity and redistributive capacity of taxes. These indices may, however, show some limits when used to make normative assessments about non‐revenue neutral tax reforms. Two approaches have traditionally been take...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Review of income and wealth 2013-06, Vol.59 (2), p.326-340
Main Authors: DE SARRALDE, SANTIAGO DÍAZ, GARCIMARTÍN, CARLOS, RUIZ-HUERTA, JESÚS
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Distance Effect
Economic indicators
H23
H24
Income distribution
Income redistribution
Income tax
Indexes
Level Effect
Personal income tax
Progressive taxation
progressivity
redistribution
Redistributive taxation
Spain
Studies
Tax policy
Tax rates
Tax reform
tax reforms
Taxation
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Summary:Kakwani and Reynolds–Smolensky indices are used in the literature to measure the progressivity and redistributive capacity of taxes. These indices may, however, show some limits when used to make normative assessments about non‐revenue neutral tax reforms. Two approaches have traditionally been taken to overcome this problem. The first of these consists of comparing after‐tax income distributions through generalized Lorenz (concentration) curves. The second approach is based on the decomposition of changes in the Reynolds–Smolensky index into changes in the average tax rate and variations in progressivity. Nonetheless, this decomposition between the average tax rate and progressivity may be further exploited to obtain some information that can be relevant to assess tax reforms. The main aim of this study is to draw up some indicators that can be useful to quantify the effects of non‐revenue neutral tax reforms. These indicators are used to investigate the last personal income tax reforms that have taken place in Spain.
ISSN:0034-6586
1475-4991
DOI:10.1111/j.1475-4991.2012.00499.x