Politically feasible reforms of non-linear tax systems

Pierre Boyer and Felix Bierbrauer

No 13059, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We present a conceptual framework for the analysis of politically feasible tax reforms. First, we prove a median voter theorem for monotonic reforms of non-linear tax systems. This yields a characterization of reforms that are preferred by a majority of individuals over the status quo and hence politically feasible. Second, we show that every Pareto-efficient tax system is such that moving towards lower tax rates for below-median incomes and towards higher rates for above median incomes is politically feasible. Third, we develop a method for diagnosing whether a given tax system admits reforms that are politically feasible and/or welfare-improving

Keywords: Political economy; Optimal taxation; Tax reforms; Non-linear income taxation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C72 D72 D82 H21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-acc, nep-pbe and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Politically Feasible Reforms of Nonlinear Tax Systems (2021)
Working Paper: Politically Feasible Reforms of Non-Linear Tax Systems (2020)
Working Paper: Politically Feasible Reforms of Non-Linear Tax Systems (2017)
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