Designing Direct Tax Reforms: Alternative Approaches

Nazila Alinaghi, John Creedy and Norman Gemmell

No 21093, Working Paper Series from Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance

Abstract: How high should the top personal income tax rate be? Is there an `optimal' structure of tax rates and thresholds? Despite numerous value judgements being required to answer such questions, this paper suggests that 'rational policy analysis' principles can nevertheless be applied to support policy advice on these and other direct tax design questions. It is argued that the economic models thought suitable as the basis for tax analysis vary according to the precise ways in which the policy question is formulated; the underlying behavioural responses to taxation expected across the taxpaying population; the precise definitions of key variables such as income inequality; and the specification of policy objectives such as redistribution, revenue-raising or tax efficiency.

Keywords: Tax policy; Tax reform; Tax rates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ir.wgtn.ac.nz/handle/123456789/21093

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vuw:vuwcpf:21093

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Paper Series from Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance School of Accounting & Commercial Law, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Library Technology Services ().