N°
15
20 Feb 2013
Average Personal Income Tax Rate and Tax Wedge Progression in OECD Countries Dominique Paturot, Kirsti Mellbye, Bert Brys
The statutory progressivity of the income taxes paid by wage earners, net of the standard cash benefits they receive, depend on the design and interaction of personal income taxes, social security contributions (SSCs) and cash benefits. In order to capture their combined impact, this paper...
N°
14
12 Dec 2012
Modelling the Tax Burden on Labour Income in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa Luca Gandullia, Nicola Iacobone, Alastair Thomas
This paper examines the taxation of labour income in five key emerging economies: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa (the "BIICS" countries). The paper highlights the key features of the taxation of labour income in these countries, and then uses this information to model the tax...
N°
13
17 Sep 2012
Taxes and Investment in Skills Carolina Torres
This paper considers the influence of taxes on the financial incentive to invest in human capital and explores the tax treatment of private investment by individuals and employers in post-compulsory education and lifelong learning in 31 OECD countries, India and South Africa. The paper...
N°
12
24 July 2012
Trends in Personal Income Tax and Employee Social Security Contribution Schedules Carolina Torres, Kirsti Mellbye, Bert Brys
Policymakers cannot directly adjust the tax burden of labour income, but they can reform the statutory elements of the tax system, which ultimately determine average and marginal tax rates. To shed light on the determinants of average and marginal personal tax rates, this paper discusses...
N°
11
24 July 2012
Shifting from Social Security Contributions to Consumption Taxes Alastair Thomas, Fidel Picos-Sánchez
This paper investigates the merits of increasing work incentives for low-income workers by shifting part of the tax burden from social security contributions (SSC) to consumption taxes (specifically VAT) in 13 European OECD countries. Simulation results based on household budget survey...
N°
10
03 Nov 2011
Wage Income Tax Reforms and Changes in Tax Burdens: 2000-2009 Bert Brys
The tax burden on labour and its evolution over time are issues that feature prominently in the political debate. Averaged across the OECD, personal income taxes, social security contributions and payroll taxes together account for more than 51% of total government revenues in 2008 (OECD,...
N°
9
03 Nov 2011
Taxation and Innovation Pamela Palazzi
Innovation is the cornerstone of sustained economic growth and prosperity. In a globalised world, innovation is a key driver of competitiveness between businesses and it plays a critical role in the rapid growth of emerging economies. At the same time, the global financial crisis has increased...
N°
8
03 Nov 2011
Non-Tax Compulsory Payments as an Additional Burden on Labour Income Bert Brys
In 23 of the 34 OECD member countries, it is compulsory for employers and/ or employees to make additional payments, in addition to taxes and social security contributions, which increase the overall burden on labour income. These non-tax compulsory payments, which are typically paid to...
N°
7
03 Nov 2011
Consumption Taxation as an Additional Burden on Labour Income Fidel Picos-Sánchez
The OECD’s Taxing Wages (TW) Report1 provides details of taxes paid on wages in the 34 OECD member countries. In particular, it covers the personal income tax and social security contributions paid by employees and their employers, as well as cash benefits received by families. The Report...
N°
6
03 Nov 2011
Corporate Taxation and SMEs: The Italian Experience Marco Manzo
This paper focuses on the tax impediments faced by small and medium-sized enterprises in Italy. The fact that small businesses are characterized by financing constraints and have less access to bank loans is often emphasized as an argument in favour of a special tax treatment for small...
N°
5
03 Nov 2011
The Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Tax Expenditures - A Novel Approach Antonella Caiumi
This study evaluates the regional tax incentives for business investment in Italy and addresses the following questions: (i) how much additional investment was stimulated by the government intervention; (ii) has the public financing displaced (part of) the private financing; (iii) to what...
N°
4
03 Nov 2011
Trends in Top Incomes and their Tax Policy Implications Stephen Matthews
This paper uses data derived from tax returns to analyse trends in the share of pre-tax personal income
going to top income recipients. These data provide a more reliable source of information on top incomes
than household surveys and allow a perspective of almost a century. Since the early...
N°
3
03 Nov 2011
Making Fundamental Tax Reform Happen Bert Brys
This paper discusses the objectives of tax reform and explores the most important environmental factors that influence the reform process, focusing on the circumstances that explain when these objectives and environmental factors may become an obstacle to the design and implementation of tax...
N°
2
03 Nov 2011
What is a "Competitive" Tax System? Stephen Matthews
This paper considers how tax policy and administration impact on an economy’s competitiveness and
reviews various measures of ‘tax competitiveness’.
N°
1
03 Nov 2011
Tax Reform Trends in OECD Countries Bert Brys, Stephen Matthews, Jeffrey Owens
Over the last two decades almost all OECD countries have made major structural changes to their tax systems. In the case of the personal and corporate income tax regimes reforms have generally been rate reducing and base broadening, following the lead given by the United Kingdom in 1984 and the...
