Fiscal Decentralisation and Mobility: Evidence from Spain's Income Tax System

In recent decades, many countries around the world have become more fiscally decentralised. Spain provides a unique case study given it has relatively quickly transitioned from a highly centralised country to a much more decentralised country, although formally not a federation. As part of this dece...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Agrawal, David R., Foremny, Dirk
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:2445/127254
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/127254
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Administració fiscal
Mobilitat social
Impostos
Ingressos fiscals
Espanya
Tax administration and procedure
Social mobility
Taxation
Internal revenue
Spain
Descripción
Sumario:In recent decades, many countries around the world have become more fiscally decentralised. Spain provides a unique case study given it has relatively quickly transitioned from a highly centralised country to a much more decentralised country, although formally not a federation. As part of this decentralisation, autonomy over individual income tax rates and brackets was recently granted to the regions (Autonomous Communities), which are similar to states or provinces in other countries. In the early 2000s, individual income tax brackets and rates were the purview of the central government. Only recently were the Spanish regions granted the authority to levy their own individual income tax rates on a portion of the personal income tax base. Once granted this authority, marginal tax rates diverged substantially at the top of the income distribution, resulting in substantial tax differentials across various regions within Spain. This article reviews the economic consequences of Spanish fiscal decentralisation with a particular focus on the impact on the mobility of high-income individuals and the implications of migration decisions for public finances.