Anmerkungen:
In: Tax Policy Conference, p. 109, 2003
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments April 3, 2003 erstellt
Beschreibung:
Georgia Kaplanoglou and David Michael Newbery examine the distributional effects of indirect taxation in Greece using microsimulation modelling techniques. They compare the distribution of the indirect tax burden among households in 1988 and 2002 focusing on three main aspects: the distribution of the overall indirect tax payments, the pattern of the tax payments by commodity groups, and the inequality of the after-tax welfare distribution. They show that, although the share of household expenditure absorbed by indirect taxes has remained stable, the change in the distribution seems to have benefited wealthier groups. The pattern of tax payments by commodity group has not changed substantially. As a whole, the indirect tax system is broadly proportional or slightly progressive in both years and, from the assessment of the degree of progressivity or regressivity induced by indirect taxes on each commodity type, a clear grouping of regressive taxes emerges, which is almost identical in 1988 and 2002. The commodities concerned (tobacco, housing and heating oil, health, food and communication) represent over 60 per cent of the average household budget in both years. Taxes on cars and on their use outbalance this regressive effect, generating the slight progressivity of the overall indirect taxation. According to several indicators, the overall inequality of the after-tax welfare distribution has increased between 1988 and 2002. Less than half of such increase is explained by changes in the indirect tax system (the rest being the result of the underlying before tax distribution of welfare)