Income Taxation Across Countries

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Qiu, Xincheng; Russo, Nicolo
• 署名单位: Peking University; Goethe University Frankfurt
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueag007
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: tax progressivity; INEQUALITY

摘要

This paper examines income tax systems in over thirty countries over the past forty years, using microdata from the Luxembourg Income Study. We show that income tax systems worldwide are well approximated by a two-parameter log-linear effective tax function. We provide country- and year-specific estimates and document several insights. First, higher average tax rates are associated with higher progressivity. Second, richer countries have more progressive tax systems. Third, progressivity varies by family structure, with marriage and children associated with higher progressivity. Finally, transfers play an important role in redistribution, making the overall tax-and-transfer function more progressive than the tax function.