Eliminating the secondary earner bias. Policy lessons from the introduction of partial individual taxation in Sweden in 1971

Gunnarsson Åsa () and Eriksson Martin ()
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Gunnarsson Åsa: Professor of Tax Law, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
Eriksson Martin: Ph.D. in Economic History, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

Nordic Tax Journal, 2017, vol. 2017, issue 1, 89-99

Abstract: This paper examines the different elements included in the Swedish partial individual taxation reform in 1971. The purpose is to identify what policy lessons this reform holds for contemporary tax policy in the European Union member states that currently apply joint tax and benefit provisions. Even though contemporary circumstances have changed in relation to the historical context for Swedish reform, the common strand is that the provisions create both inactivity incentives on the labor market and low income traps for secondary earners. We suggest that a shift to individual taxation should be a part of family and social policies that promote gender equality, and that in turn should be consolidated within a sustainable idea about tax fairness.

Keywords: Sweden; secondary earner bias; tax reform; individual/joint taxation; tax design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:notajo:v:2017:y:2017:i:1:p:89-99:n:6

DOI: 10.1515/ntaxj-2017-0006

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