Taxation and distribution of income in Brazil: new evidence from personal income tax data

• Autor(a) principal: GOBETTI,SÉRGIO WULFF
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: ORAIR,RODRIGO OCTÁVIO
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Economia Política
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-31572017000200267
• topic: Income tax; Tax progressivity; Tax reform; Income distribution; Tax data

ABSTRACT able This paper presents a critical analysis of income and profit taxes in Brazil, arguing that measures adopted in the 1980s and 1990s, as a result of mainstream recommendations, hindered the redistributive role of taxes. An examination of tax data reveals a high degree of top income concentration, low tax progressivity and violations of the principles of horizontal and vertical equity. The main reason for these distortions is the complete tax exemption of dividends, a benefit that is very rarely seen in developed countries. We propose a return to a progressivity-focused tax reform plan, a theme that has returned as a focus of debates with (Piketty, 2014).