Authors: Takanori Sumino
Publish Date: 2015/11/12
Volume: 129, Issue: 3, Pages: 1115-1134
Abstract
This article examines the role of income status and policy context in jointly determining public responses to taxation policies Based upon the notion that taxpayers’ selfinterested preferences are inextricably intertwined with the policy context I hypothesise that highincome taxpayers react differently to taxation policies depending on their perceived tax burden associated with tax policy structures Using international social survey data I find that the link between income and tax support is conditioned by the tax system within which taxpayers are contextually situated In countries with comparatively high levels of direct taxes highincome taxpayers react more negatively to higher and more progressive taxation than do lowincome counterparts In contrast in lowtax societies attitudinal cleavages among income classes become less intense Moreover the results reveal that the impact of income on tax attitudes does not significantly vary across countries with different degrees of tax concentration The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings and directions for further researchI am grateful to Professors Stephen D Fisher and Tamas DavidBarrett for stimulating discussions and encouragements throughout the research period I also wish to thank three anonymous referees for their thoughtprovoking comments on an earlier version of this article
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