Tax Reform and Income Redistribution: Issues and Alternatives

摘要

In an attempt to reform the United States Federal income tax, several proposals for the redistribution of tax payments are developed. The report presents specific plans and calculates their redistributional impact as of 1970. The reference plan is the actual Federal personal income tax of 1970, together with the cash public assistance program of 1970. Each proposal is required to produce the same aggregate net revenue as the reference plan. Some items described are: credit and negative income taxes; vertical and horizontal equity, the latter associated with personal tax credits and family size; historical and horizontal equity in regard to deductions and provisions for the aged and welfare beneficiaries; and avoidance of complexities and disincentives. Summary statistics of the redistributions for several plans are listed.