Fiscal Incidence in Tanzania

Stephen D. Younger, Flora Myamba and Kenneth Mdadila
Additional contact information
Stephen D. Younger: Department of Economics, Ithaca College.
Flora Myamba: REPOA
Kenneth Mdadila: Department of Economics, University of Dar es Salaam

No 36, Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series from Tulane University, Department of Economics

Abstract: We use methods developed by the Commitment to Equity and data from the 2011/12 Household Budget Survey to assess the effects of government taxation, social spending, and indirect subsidies on poverty and inequality in Tanzania. We also simulate several policy reforms to assess their distributional consequences. We find that Tanzania redistributes more than expected given its relatively low income and inequality, largely because both direct and indirect taxes are more excellent targeting mechanism. If the program were expanded to a size that is typical for lower-middle income countries, it could reduce poverty significantly. On the other hand, electricity subsidies are regressive despite attempts to make them more pro-poor with a lifeline tariff.

Keywords: fiscal incidence; poverty; inequality; fiscal policy; Tanzania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 H22 I14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2016-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Published in Commitment to Equity Institute , January 2016, pages 1-26

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http://repec.tulane.edu/RePEc/ceq/ceq36.pdf First version, 2016 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tul:ceqwps:36

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