Suchergebnisse

The Spanish fiscal system underwent profound reforms between 1977 and 1986, in close connection to the transition from dictatorship to democracy. These were meant to bring the country towards the welfare state model of its European neighbours. Some practical results in terms of progressivity and redistribution, however, were not outstanding, and inequality did not significantly decrease after democratization. In recent times, the system has shown its incapacity to sustain European-level welfare services. Can a historical analysis help us understand the constraints faced by this young welfare state in the periphery? This paper looks at two factors in the political economy of tax reform: social preferences and the decision-making institutions. Perhaps the general citizen – or the decisive voter – was not very keen on redistribution. Alternatively, the new political system might not have translated effectively the public stances onto policies. Furthermore, at this time of the transition, international developments were changing the emphasis from equity to efficiency in tax system design, and increasing capital mobility provided an enhanced capacity to escape from taxation.

Chapter 1: Modern taxation and the Spanish case -- Chapter 2: Historical background: the Spanish taxation prior to the tax reforms -- Chapter 3: Needs, rationals and reasons for tax reforms -- Chapter 4: Processes of tax reforms -- Chapter 5: Winners and losers in the reforms -- Chapter 6: End results of the tax reforms -- Chapter 7: Final conclusions: the lessons learnt from Spain.

Fiscal policy represents one of the most important components of economic policy and as such it should be treated in its context.For this there are at least two reasons:First, economic policy defines the goals and criteria of fiscal policy in order to assess its contribution to the implementation of economic policies, andSecond, defining the connection between the objectives and instruments, theory of economic policy explains the process of fulfilling the objectives of economic policy, part of which process is fiscal policy itself. Therefore, in the following, in a quite direct manner, we will address the interdependence between economic policy and fiscal policy.The word policy, in everyday life is used to clarify the principles on which various activities run, in order to realize the goals set by the designated authorities by determining the holders of those activities, their size as well as means by which those goals should be realized.In order to achieve prosperity and political stability, national governments aim at achieving economic equilibrium. Kosovo is one of the last countries in Europe to transition to a market economy. The transition process has begun from a very difficult starting point.During the years after the war, a symbolic economic growth occurred, which has been attributed mainly to remittances, investments in infrastructure and privatization. Investments, despite continuous growth, are considered insufficient to boost domestic production.This pattern of growth has not been able to meet the development needs of the state and failed to translate into a better standard of living for citizens, given that neither unemployment nor poverty are reduced. (The Progress Report on Kosovo, European Commission 2011).

The main objective of this paper is to calculate the distribution of the tax burden across income levels in Spain between 1960 and 1990. The chosen period covers the final years of Franco's dictatorship and the first ones of the present parliamentary regime, and is thus meant to explore how political change was reflected on taxation. Does transition entail a fiscal revolution? Here is one case study developed and compared to other national experiences. Effective tax reform seems to have been politically blocked during the dictatorship, with public budgets growing fundamentally on the grounds of social security contributions. Democracy brought about a comprehensive transformation starting in 1977, which aimed at improving fairness (progressivity)and increasing revenue (to fund the development of the Welfare State). In this work I analyse whether the reforms entailed effective changes in the distribution of the tax burden, by imputing tax collection to taxpayers, based on income and consumption micro-data from Household Budget Surveys. The results show a persistent (albeit decreasing) regressivity in the tax system, which caused an increasingly negative redistribution of income. Pre-Tax incomes grew unequal during the period and net incomes even more so as a result: the tax reform did not fulfill its equalizing promises. The joint effect of the fiscal system, however, seems to have been slightly positive due to progressive social spending.