IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibf/acttax/v3y2011i1p81-89.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Sensitivity Of Common Horizontal Equity Measures To Variations In Omitted Income

Author

Listed:
  • Susan Rhame
  • Robert Walsh

Abstract

This paper examines the sensitivity of horizontal equity measures (coefficient of variation (CV) and coefficient of residual variation (CRV)) to a common assumption in horizontal equity studies – that changes in level of omitted income do not change horizontal equity experienced by taxpayers in similarly situated income groups. It have been assumed in many prior studies that certain income exclusions or deductions allowed from taxable income have no effect on the resulting horizontal equity measurements. This paper examines whether the CV and CRV remain low within each income group when the mortgage interest deduction and the charitable contribution deduction are disallowed. In general, the omission of certain income does create a wider variation of effective tax rates within income groups. The results of this study indicate that future horizontal equity studies should consider that omitted income, either through income exclusions or deductions allowed, may affect horizontal equity measures. In addition, for policy makers, taking steps to decrease the tax gap also increases horizontal equity.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan Rhame & Robert Walsh, 2011. "The Sensitivity Of Common Horizontal Equity Measures To Variations In Omitted Income," Accounting & Taxation, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 3(1), pages 81-89.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibf:acttax:v:3:y:2011:i:1:p:81-89
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.theibfr2.com/RePEc/ibf/acttax/at-v3n1-2011/AT-V3N1-2011-7.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frank A. Cowell, 1990. "Cheating the Government: The Economics of Evasion," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262532484, April.
    2. Bakija, Jon & Steuerle, C. Eugene, 1991. "Individual Income Taxation Since 1948," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 44(4), pages 451-475, December.
    3. David J. Pyle, 1989. "Tax Evasion and the Black Economy," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-08488-3, December.
    4. Bakija, Jon & Steuerle, C. Eugene, 1991. "Individual Income Taxation Since 1948," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 44(4), pages 451-75, December.
    5. Brennan, Geoffrey, 1971. "Horizontal Equity: An Extension of an Extension," Public Finance = Finances publiques, , vol. 26(3), pages 437-456.
    Full references (including those not matched with items 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. David Splinter, 2019. "Who Pays No Tax? The Declining Fraction Paying Income Taxes And Increasing Tax Progressivity," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 413-426, July.
    2. Larcinese, Valentino & Parmigiani, Alberto, 2023. "Income inequality and campaign contributions: evidence from the Reagan tax cut," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118456, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Litina, Anastasia & Palivos, Theodore, 2016. "Corruption, tax evasion and social values," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 164-177.
    4. James Alm & J. Sebastian Leguizamon & Susane Leguizamon, 2023. "Race, Ethnicity, and Taxation of the Family: The Many Shades of the Marriage Penalty/Bonus," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(3), pages 525-560.
    5. James Alm & J. Sebastian Leguizamon, 2015. "Whither the Marriage Tax?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 68(2), pages 251-280, June.
    6. Gideon Yaniv, 2013. "Tax Evasion, Conspicuous Consumption, and the Income Tax Rate," Public Finance Review, , vol. 41(3), pages 302-316, May.
    7. Yosef Mealem & Yossef Tobol & Gideon Yaniv, 2010. "Whistle-blowers as a Deterrent to Tax Evasion," Public Finance Review, , vol. 38(3), pages 306-320, May.
    8. James Alm, 2017. "Is Economics Useful for Public Policy?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(4), pages 835-854, April.
    9. José Alves, 2018. "Tax incidence and fiscal systems: some problems on tax compared history in XIX and XX centuries," Working Papers REM 2018/45, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    10. Anastasia Litina & Theodore Palivos, 2015. "Corruption and Tax Evasion: Reflections on Greek Tragedy," Working Papers 193, Bank of Greece.
    11. Paul E. Carrillo & M. Shahe Emran & Anita Rivadeneira, 2011. "Do Cheaters Bunch Together? Profit Taxes, Withholding Rates and Tax Evasion," Working Papers 2011-03, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    12. Dan Usher, 2006. "The Marginal Cost of Public Funds Is the Ratio of Mean Income to Median Income," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(6), pages 687-711, November.
    13. David Bruner & Michael Jones & Michael McKee & Christian Vossler, 2015. "Tax Reporting Behavior: Underreporting Opportunities and Prepopulated Tax Returns," Working Papers 15-11, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    14. Traxler, Christian, 2010. "Social norms and conditional cooperative taxpayers," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 89-103, March.
    15. James Alm, 2024. "Tax Compliance, Technology, Trust, and Inequality in a Post-Pandemic World," Working Papers 2404, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    16. Kalina Koleva, 2005. "Seeking for an optimal tax administration: the efficiency costs’ approach [A la recherche de l'administration fiscale optimale : l'approche par les coûts d'efficience]," Post-Print halshs-00195354, HAL.
    17. Joseph G. Eisenhauer, 2006. "The Shadow Price of Morality," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 32(3), pages 437-456, Summer.
    18. Coricelli, Giorgio & Rusconi, Elena & Villeval, Marie Claire, 2014. "Tax evasion and emotions: An empirical test of re-integrative shaming theory," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 49-61.
    19. Bayer, Ralph & Cowell, Frank, 2016. "Tax compliance by firms and audit policy," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 38-52.
    20. Martin Halla, 2011. "The Link between the Intrinsic Motivation to Comply and Compliance Behaviour: A Critical Appraisal of Existing Evidence," Chapters, in: Friedrich Schneider (ed.), Handbook on the Shadow Economy, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    taxation; horizontal equity; coefficient of variation; coefficient of residual variation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

    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:ibf:acttax:v:3:y:2011:i:1:p:81-89. 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: Mercedes Jalbert (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.