The domestic determinants of tax mixes

In this chapter, we summarize the literature on the domestic politics of taxation. We distinguish between major tax forms and their relationship to the real incidence of taxation. This approach helps us to understand some counterintuitive findings in the literature. If, nowadays, most of taxation effectively constitutes different types of labour taxes (broadly defined), this has major implications for political contestation. Against this background, we discuss how the three big “I” in comparative political economy, Interests, Institutions, and Ideas, influence the shape of the tax mix across countries and across time.