Tax System and Tax Burden
- Cecilie
- 5. aug. 2016
- 3 min læsning
Importances
Terms
⭐ Average rate of taxation = (total amount of paid tax) / (GDP) * 100
⭐ Horizontal redistribution from one citizen to another – from adult to respectively children and elderly people (child support payments and state pension)
⭐ Marginal rate of taxation = the tax rate on the last earned $, kr., £, etc.
⭐ Merit goods are goods that are so valuable to the society that they should be free, e.g. education and healthcare
⭐ Tax burden = (the total tax revenue) / (GDP)
⭐ The principle of universalism means that everyone has the right to get public services and welfare benefits.
⭐ Vertical redistribution from the rich to the poor
Characteristics of the Danish welfare model
The Danish welfarestate has five charectaristics:
The welfare is financed out of tax revenue → the state has a very pivotal role
The rate of taxation is high. The taxation is progressive (the higher income the higher tax rate).
All citizens have the right to receive a number of free welfare benefits and public services, e.g. healthcare, education etc.
To some welfare benefits the state gives subsidies. Those benefits are, in other words, partly charged, e.g. the dentist, private schools, medicine, child care institutions, etc.
A fine-meshed social safety net in the form of public benefits, e.g. state education grant, unemployment benefits, social security, sickness benefits and child support payments.
About the 1st and 2nd characteristic: Taxes
There are three types of taxes:
Income tax (including corporate tax)
Value added tax (VAT) (25%) and excise duties, e.g. vehicle registration fee, alcohol, tobacco, green taxes, etc.
Real estate tax
Property value tax to the state – 1,05 % of the property value
Real estate tax to the municipality. In the City of Copenhagen, the rate is 34 ‰ (the maximum that the state has allowed).
About the 3rd characteristic: Free welfare benefits to everyone
Key word: Merit goods.
Free welfare benefits contribute to the redistribution from the rich to the poor.
About the 4th characteristic: Partly charged benefits and subsidies to some welfare benefits
Some subsidies are tiered corresponding to the income.
About the 5th characteristic: The social safety net – social security
If you loose your income involuntarily (e.g. get fired) you have the right to get help.
The help, which is financed out of tax revenue, creates a redistribution of income:
Vertical redistribution from the rich to the poor
Horizontal redistribution from one citizen to another – from adult to respectively children and elderly people (child support payments and state pension).
The aim of social security:
Redistribution of income – a more equal society
Public assistance – insurance function – the state acts as an insurance company
Care in relation to children and elderly people
Investment, for example: The state education grant can be viewed as an investment in education
Welfare benefits can be given as:
Money, e.g. the state education grants and unemployment benefits.
Payment in kind, e.g. food stamps in the U.S.
Vouchers, a kind of “coupon” where you choose yourself who you want to provide the benefit
There are two characteristics of the Danish welfare state:
Everyone is entitled to the benefits = the principle of universalism
Benefits are given on objective criteria = legal principle
Denmark
The public sector in Denmark:
Government expenditure makes up around 40 – 50% of GDP
Around 900,000 are employed in the public sector which in equivalent to approximately 1/3 of the labor force.
It is the Treasury that drafts a finance act which then is passed in the Folketing (the Danish parliament).
There is a tendency of rising public expenditures
It is hard to make service work more efficient
The politicians have a hard time passing unpopular cuts
The public expects constant improvement of the services
The future of the welfare state
Problem: In the future there will be more people that need to be supported (mainly elderly people) and fewer supporters → demographic burden of support will increase.