Ungleichheit und Steuern. Steuerdatenbasierte Einblicke in die redistributiven Effekte des Schweizer Steuersystems

Hümbelin, Oliver; Farys, Rudolf; Richard, Tina (2021). Ungleichheit und Steuern. Steuerdatenbasierte Einblicke in die redistributiven Effekte des Schweizer Steuersystems. In: Guex, Sébastien; Hürlimann, Gisela; Leimgruber, Matthieu (eds.) Steuern und Ungleichheit / Fiscalité et inégalités. Schweizerisches Jahrbuch für Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte / Annuaire suisse d’histoire économique et sociale: Vol. 36 (pp. 191-216). Zürich: Chronos

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In many countries, inequality between the rich and the poor has been increasing in recent decades. Some authors blame this on a retreat of the state, which is making less and less redistribution through progressive taxes and social benefits. In an international context, Switzerland is regarded as a country with low economic income inequality and little redistribution. In this paper, we present results with respect to the redistributive effect of the Swiss Tax system based on a novel database. It links tax and benefit data as well as the population register, which was developed within the framework of the SNSF project "Inequality. Poverty Risks and Welfare State". On this basis, the redistributive effects of taxes and social benefits can be quantified and analyzed in an holistical way. Progressive taxation reduces income inequality, while deductions mediate the effect of taxes. We find inequality-reducing effects for social deductions and inequality-increasing effects for deductions relating to real estate, insurance and savings capital. Deductions are therefore essential instruments of the welfare state that should get more attention both from an inequality perspective in academic discourses and in political debates as well.

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