Journal Article

The fiscal and equity impact of social tax expenditures in the EU

Authors

Publication date

Jul 2020

Summary

Tax expenditures (TEs) are preferential tax treatments granted to specific individuals or categories of households, with the aim of achieving social and economic goals. They are widely used by EU Member States. However, their fiscal and equity impacts are not always clear and their effectiveness and efficiency as a policy instrument need to be carefully evaluated, especially in the present context of constrained public finances. This article quantifies the fiscal and equity effects of social TEs related to housing, education and health in 28 European countries making use of EUROMOD, the EU-wide microsimulation model. We find a variety of effects, in terms of sign and magnitude, across Member States, and within these, among types of households. Overall, our findings suggest that the impact of TE on tax revenues and on income inequalities can be sizable. The redistributive impact of removing TEs can go in both directions, either on the progressive or regressive side, depending on the country and the TE considered.

Published in

Journal of European Social Policy

Volume and page numbers

30 , 355 -369

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928719891341

ISSN

16

Subjects

Public Policy, Welfare Benefits, Microsimulation, Taxation, and Economic Policy

Links

University of Essex, Albert Sloman Library Periodicals *restricted to University of Essex registered users* - https://lib.essex.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1656027

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1. The fiscal and equity impact of social tax expenditures in the EU

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   EUROMOD Working Paper Series, EM20/19 - 18 Nov 2019 - download  
   1. Public Policy
   2. Welfare Benefits
   3. Microsimulation
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