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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
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    File URL: https://treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2008-12/twp08-04.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Creedy & Robert Dixon, 1999. "The Distributional Effects of Monopoly," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 223-237, September.
    2. 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.
    3. John Creedy & Alan S. Duncan & Mark Harris & Rosanna Scutella, 2002. "Microsimulation Modelling of Taxation and the Labour Market," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2796.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. John Creedy, 2004. "Labour Supply Incentives in Alternative Tax and Transfer Schemes: A Diagrammatic Introduction," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 37(2), pages 230-241, June.
    7. 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.
    8. John Creedy, 1998. "Measuring Welfare Changes and Tax Burdens," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1579.
    9. Kakwani, Nanok C, 1977. "Measurement of Tax Progressivity: An International Comparison," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 87(345), pages 71-80, March.
    10. John Creedy & Cath Sleeman, 2005. "Adult equivalence scales, inequality and poverty," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 51-81.
    11. John Creedy & Guyonne Kalb, 2006. "Labour Supply and Microsimulation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 4236.
    12. John Creedy & Cath Sleeman, 2006. "The Distributional Effects of Indirect Taxes," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12558.
    13. John Creedy, 1996. "Fiscal Policy and Social Welfare," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 797.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
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    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

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    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

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