The nexus between Income Inequality and Tax Composition: A Cross-Country Perspective

Year 2022, Volume: 22 Issue: 4, 473 - 486, 03.10.2022

Oya Ekici

https://doi.org/10.21121/eab.1063549

Abstract

We perform an empirical analysis to investigate the relationship between income inequality and the tax composition of countries. We first group the countries with respect to the composition of their taxes on income and taxes on goods and services as a share of gross domestic product. The clustering method is employed to identify country groups. Then, we examine the effect of being in a category on the countries’ income inequality represented by the Gini index. To deal with the endogeneity issue, we use the instrumental variable method in the analysis. We find that the composition of tax revenues of countries is associated with the Gini index and the countries that impose a higher tax on income relative to tax on goods and services expose a lower level of income inequality; whereas the countries that place a higher tax on goods and services expose a higher level of income inequality. As a policy implication, structuring an effective tax composition will ultimately help the economies reduce inequality. Understanding the potential of the distributive effect of fiscal policy will contribute to managing taxation tools better and thus improving economic development.

Keywords

Gini index, income inequality, taxes on income, taxes on goods and services, clustering

Supporting Institution

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Project Number

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Thanks

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Gelir Eşitsizliği ve Vergi Bileşimi arasındaki İlişki: Ülkeler arası değerlendirme

Abstract

Ülkelerin gelir eşitsizliği ve vergi bileşimlerini araştırmak üzere bir ampirik analiz yapılmıştır. Bunun için öncelikle gayri safi yurtiçi hasılanın payı olarak gelir ile mal ve hizmetlerden alınan vergi bileşimlerine göre ülkeler gruplandırılmıştır. Ülke gruplarını belirlemede kümeleme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Daha sonra ülkelerin bu belirlenen kategorilerden birinde olmasının, ülkelerin Gini endeksi ile temsil edilen gelir eşitsizliği üzerinde bir etkisi olup olmadığı araştırılmıştır. Analizlerde içsellik sorunu ile başa çıkmak üzere araç değişkenler yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Buna göre ülkelerin vergi geliri bileşimlerinin gelir eşitsizliği ile ilişkisi olduğu doğrulanmıştır. Mal ve hizmetlerden alınan vergi tutarlarından daha fazla gelir vergisi uygulayan ülkelerin, gelir eşitsizliği düzeylerinin daha düşük olduğu, öte yandan mal ve hizmetlerden alınan vergilerin, gelirden elde edilen vergilere göre daha fazla olduğu ülkelerde ise gelir eşitsizliğinin daha yüksek olduğu bulunmuştur. Politika olarak etkin bir vergi bileşimi yapısı oluşturmak nihayetinde ekonomilerin eşitsizliği azaltmasına yardımcı olacaktır. Ayrıca maliye politikasının dağıtım etkisi potansiyelinin farkında olmak, vergi aracını daha iyi yönetmeye katkı sağlayacak ve böylelikle iktisadi gelişmeyi artıracaktır.

Keywords

Gini endeksi, gelir eşitsizliği, gelir vergisi, mal ve hizmet vergisi, kümeleme

Project Number

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