Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nzt/nztwps/08-04.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Equity and Efficiency Measures of Tax-Transfer Systems: Some Evidence for New Zealand

Author

Listed:
  • John Creedy
  • Jamas Enright
  • Norman Gemmell
  • Nick McNabb

    (The Treasury)

Abstract
The redistributive and efficiency aspects of personal taxes are of particular interest to both economists and governments designing tax reforms. Traditionally however, the numerous analytical tools available to calculate distributional and efficiency effects of taxes and transfers are not widely used in tax policy advice. This partly reflects the computational complexities involved in calculating some of those measures and the need for simplicity, and transparency of underlying assumptions, when presenting policy advice. This paper makes two contributions to the analysis of the equity and efficiency effects of tax policy. Firstly, it applies the methodologies proposed by economists to measure equity and efficiency outcomes of taxes to provide some evidence for the New Zealand income tax and transfer system. This makes use of Treasury’s microsimulation model, TaxWell. Secondly, the paper examines a database of low-income New Zealand taxpayers. A decomposition by individual and household characteristics shows that different groups of low income taxpayers can be affected quite differently by various aspects of the tax/transfer system. In particular, tax-free zones do not appear well targeted to help those most in need.

Suggested Citation

  • John Creedy & Jamas Enright & Norman Gemmell & Nick McNabb, 2008. "Equity and Efficiency Measures of Tax-Transfer Systems: Some Evidence for New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 08/04, New Zealand Treasury.
    • Handle: RePEc:nzt:nztwps:08/04
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2008-12/twp08-04.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Justin Van De Ven & John Creedy, 2005. "Taxation, Reranking and Equivalence Scales," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 13-36, January.
    2. John Creedy, 1998. "Measuring Welfare Changes and Tax Burdens," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1579.
    3. Kakwani, Nanok C, 1977. "Measurement of Tax Progressivity: An International Comparison," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 87(345), pages 71-80, March.
    4. John Creedy & Cath Sleeman, 2005. "Adult equivalence scales, inequality and poverty," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 51-81.
    5. John Creedy & Robert Dixon, 1999. "The Distributional Effects of Monopoly," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 223-237, September.
    6. Auerbach, Alan J., 1985. "The theory of excess burden and optimal taxation," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 61-127, Elsevier.
    7. John Creedy & Alan S. Duncan & Mark Harris & Rosanna Scutella, 2002. "Microsimulation Modelling of Taxation and the Labour Market," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2796.
    8. John Creedy & Guyonne Kalb, 2006. "Labour Supply and Microsimulation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 4236.
    9. John Creedy & Cath Sleeman, 2006. "The Distributional Effects of Indirect Taxes," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12558.
    10. Guyonne Kalb & Rosanna Scutella, 2003. "New Zealand Labour Supply from 1991-2001: An Analysis Based on a Discrete Choice Structural Utility Model," Treasury Working Paper Series 03/23, New Zealand Treasury.
    11. John Creedy, 1996. "Fiscal Policy and Social Welfare," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 797.
    12. W. Erwin Diewert & Denis A. Lawrence, 1996. "The Deadweight Costs of Taxation in New Zealand," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 29(s1), pages 658-673, April.
    13. Alex Bakker & John Creedy, 1999. "Macroeconomic variables and income inequality in New Zealand: An exploration using conditional mixture distributions," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 59-79.
    14. repec:bla:ausecr:v:37:y:2004:i:2:p:230-241 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. John Creedy, 2003. "Labour Supply Incentives in Alternative Tax and Transfer Schemes: A Diagrammatic Introduction," Treasury Working Paper Series 03/08, New Zealand Treasury.
    16. Dean Hyslop & Dave Maré, 2001. "Understanding Changes in the Distribution of Household Incomes in New Zealand Between 1983-86 and 1995-98," Treasury Working Paper Series 01/21, New Zealand Treasury.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mr. Antonio David & Mr. Martin Petri, 2013. "Inclusive Growth and the Incidence of Fiscal Policy in Mauritius: Much Progress, But More Could be Done," IMF Working Papers 2013/116, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Mattos, Enlinson & Terra, Rafael, 2016. "Cash-cum-in-kind transfers and income tax function," Textos para discussão 414, FGV EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).
    3. Ivica Urban, 2009. "Kakwani decomposition of redistributive effect: Origins, critics and upgrades," Working Papers 148, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    4. repec:ekd:006356:6848 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Creedy & Jamas Enright & Norman Gemmell & Nick McNabb, 2010. "Income Redistribution and Direct Taxes and Transfers in New Zealand," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 43(1), pages 39-51, March.
    2. John Creedy & Nicolas Hérault†, 2011. "Decomposing Inequality and Social Welfare Changes : The Use of Alternative Welfare Metrics," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1121, The University of Melbourne.
    3. Fritzsche, Bernd & Haisken-DeNew, John & Kambeck, Rainer & Siemers, Lars-H. R. & Bergs, Christian & Fuest, Clemens & Peichl, Andreas & Schaefer, Thilo & Thöne, Michael, 2007. "Der Zusammenhang zwischen Steuerlast- und Einkommensverteilung: Forschungsprojekt für das Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales. Endbericht - Dezember 2007," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 70874, March.
    4. John Creedy: Nicolas Herault & Guyonne Kalb, 2008. "Tax Policy Design and The Role of a Tax-Free Threshold," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1046, The University of Melbourne.
    5. John Creedy, 2010. "Personal Income Tax Structure: Theory and Policy," Chapters, in: Iris Claus & Norman Gemmell & Michelle Harding & David White (ed.), Tax Reform in Open Economies, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. John Creedy & Nicolas Hérault†, 2011. "Decomposing Inequality and Social Welfare Changes : The Use of Alternative Welfare Metrics," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1121, The University of Melbourne.
    7. Nicolas Hérault & Guyonne Kalb, 2022. "Understanding the rising trend in female labour force participation," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 341-363, December.
    8. Guyonne Kalb & Wang-Sheng Lee, 2007. "The effect of an alternative childcare subsidy on labour supply: a policy simulation," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 10(1), pages 39-57.
    9. John Creedy & Nicolas Hérault & Guyonne Kalb, 2009. "Abolishing the Tax-Free Threshold in Australia: Simulating Alternative Reforms," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 30(2), pages 219-246, June.
    10. A. B. Atkinson & Andrew Leigh, 2005. "The Distribution of Top Incomes in New Zealand," CEPR Discussion Papers 503, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    11. Sylvia Dixon & David C. Maré, 2005. "Changes in the Maori Income Distribution: Evidence from the Population Census," Working Papers 05_06, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    12. Alinaghi, Nazila & Creedy, John & Gemmell, Norman, 2020. "Designing Direct Tax Reforms: Alternative Approaches," Working Paper Series 9338, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    13. John Creedy & Penny Mok, 2017. "Labour supply in New Zealand and the 2010 tax and transfer changes," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 60-78, January.
    14. Peichl, Andreas, 2008. "The benefits of linking CGE and Microsimulation Models - Evidence from a Flat Tax analysis," FiFo Discussion Papers - Finanzwissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge 08-6, University of Cologne, FiFo Institute for Public Economics.
    15. John Creedy & Nicolas Hérault, 2009. "Optimal Marginal Income Tax Reforms: A Microsimulation Analysis," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2009n23, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    16. John Creedy & Guyonne Kalb, 2005. "Discrete Hours Labour Supply Modelling: Specification, Estimation and Simulation," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(5), pages 697-734, December.
    17. Rosanna Scutella, 2004. "Moves to a Basic Income-Flat Tax System in Australia: Implications for the Distribution of Income and Supply of Labour," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2004n05, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    18. John Creedy, 2003. "The Excess Burden of Taxation and Why it (Approximately) Quadruples When the Tax Rate Doubles," Treasury Working Paper Series 03/29, New Zealand Treasury.
    19. Chris Jones, 2005. "Why the Marginal Social Cost of Funds is not the Shadow Value of Government Revenue," ANU Working Papers in Economics and Econometrics 2005-449, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics.
    20. Omar Aziz & Norman Gemmell & Athene Laws, 2016. "Income and Fiscal Incidence by Age and Gender: Some Evidence from New Zealand," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 534-558, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Personal Income Taxes; Equity; Redistribution; Transfers; Tax Efficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nzt:nztwps:08/04. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CSS Web and Publishing, The Treasury (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/tregvnz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.