The purpose of the study is to analyse tax reform measures to secure the tax revenue base, in particular the personal income tax structure of South Africa. The main objectives are: firstly, to identify personal income tax reform interventions so as to align the personal income tax structure in South Africa with international best practices. Secondly, the impact of tax reforms on revenue collection, given optimal economic growth levels, is determined. Thirdly, to determine the best tax reform scenario which could minimise the individual tax burden and maximise its efficiency. Lastly, the impact of the suggested tax reforms on fairness as a principle of a good tax system is evaluated. A static micro-simulation model is developed from survey data and used to simulate the proposed tax reforms. Different tax reforms were selected from a study of international tax reform trends and an analysis of the South African personal income tax structure. The literature provides clear margins for the structuring of tax bands and threshold margins. Tax elasticities are estimated in order to explain the methodology for determining the impact of tax reforms. These elasticities include the elasticities for determining the progressiveness of the PIT structure, determining the deadweight loss (tax efficiency) and also to determine the optimal levels of taxes and economic growth and revenue maximisation. The different tax reform scenarios take the economy closer to or further away from optimum growth and optimum revenue. The results show that as far as marginal rates are concerned, a lowering in rates to levels on par with South Africa’s peers offers potential for improved levels of efficiency with the tax burden equal to or even below the optimal tax ratio from an economic growth point of view. Although such a ratio is below the optimal revenue ratio the results suggest that the loss in revenue could be minimised over time through a resultant increase in productivity and economic growth. By adjusting the non-taxable thresholds and taxable income bands according to the algorithm defined in the best practice scenario, more taxpayers will be included into the tax net but with a net decrease in tax liability. As a result the tax/GDP level also declines to a level below the optimal growth level but tax efficiency increases. The resultant loss in revenue will have to be recouped through increases in other than individual income taxes but improved levels of tax morality because of the lower margins for each tax band and increased productivity might also contribute to increased revenue performance. The tax structure is also more progressive which contributes towards the “fairness” of the tax regime. Regarding tax expenditure reforms, the analysis shows that medical tax credits offer a more equitable form of relief than medical deductions which substantiate this kind of reform as already implemented by government and which is to be fully phased in over the next couple of years. Tax liability is slightly lower in the case of medical credits compared to medical deductions but the difference is only marginal as far as net revenue and optimal growth and efficiency is concerned. However, a medical credit which increases disposable income at the lower end of the scale and discriminates against higher income groups also improves progressiveness of the tax regime and therefore the fairness thereof accordingly. Finally, the demographic impact of the suggested reforms also shows some important trends. Better education improves skills levels which seems to be positively correlated to taxable income levels. As far as age is concerned, the analysis shows that a substantial number of taxpayers in the categories below the age of 24 and above 65 fall within the lower taxable income groups. Those are also the most vulnerable groups from a subsistence point of view. Thus, tax reform that specifically improves their levels of disposable income should be prioritised in order to address equity and fairness as objectives for a “good” tax structure. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / gm2014 / Economics / Unrestricted

Diploma thesis aims to identify, describe and compare the level of current similarity between the base for calculating tax on personal income and base of assessment of social insurance in Great Britain, Ireland, Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Firstly, the thesis generally describes systems of integration of personal income tax and social insurance, the various stages of integration and the arguments for and against integration. Furthermore it describes systems of income tax and social insurance in the individual countries and rules for creating the tax base and the assessment base in these countries. In the last chapter there is comparison between the tax base and the assessment base in each country, and comparison of these two bases between all four countries. At the end of this chapter, there is a proposition of possible changes and suggestions for the Czech Republic, inspired by the tax systems of other described countries. The conclusion is, that there is a convergence of rules for calculating the income tax and social insurance assessment base and the largest differences between these two bases are in the Czech Republic.

The main objective of diploma thesis is the comparison of the taxation of taxpayers who receive pension and concurrently have an income from employment in the selected countries of the European Union which are the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Austria and United Kingdom. The diploma thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter contains the characteristics and classification of the tax expenditures. In the second chapter the pension systems of the selected countries are characterized and the results of studies of OECD concerning the issue and the comparison of pension politics are described. The third chapter is devoted to the method of taxation of personal income of working pensioners and social security systems in individual countries and the last part is the comparison of the various types of tax expenditures. The last, fourth, chapter is dedicated to the comparison of the rate of taxation of working pensioners in the selected states. The rate of taxation is calculated using the average tax rate, partial results are the size of the exemption of pensions and total tax expenditures relative to income of taxpayers.

In the diploma thesis I compare tax burden of employees and self employed people. The issue seems to be very topical in context with the reform of direct taxes and levies. The new act devoted to the reform will come into force in 2015. The comparison of tax burden between employees and self employed people is conducted in two years, in 2012 a 2015. The diploma thesis is divided into three parts which are logically connected. The first part is focused on legislation which is related to the issue of tax burden. The second part is devoted to the development of tax reforms in the Czech Republic since 1993. Last third part compares tax burden of employees and self employed people.

Comparison of evolution of employers' costs and rate of taxation of labour is the subject of this thesis. Employers' costs are considered wages and social security contributions. Amount of these costs was discovered by Amadeus database which contains data published in companies' annual reports and in their financial statements. Analysis was performed with data about 23 EU countries which were available. Implicit tax rate on labour and Average tax wedge were used for quantification of the rate of taxation of labour. Implicit tax rate on labour is published by Eurostat and Average tax wedge is compiled by OECD. The analysis was performed with data about 19 OECD countries of total 23 countries which are compared. Finding of existence of corresponding trend between evolution of employers' costs and evolution of rate of taxation of labour is goal of this thesis. Existence of that trend was not found for most compared countries between years 2007 and 2012.

This doctoral thesis analyses the changes in income inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. The thesis adds to the existing literature by explaining the underlying causes of the changes in observed income inequality. As such, this thesis applies different decomposition methods to the Gini coefficient. In the analysis of household income sources, traditional static decompositions are supplemented by applying micro-simulations that allow for a dynamic decomposition of changes in income sources reported in household surveys. The results corroborate previous findings of the significant contribution of labour market incomes and governmen grants. However, the application of advanced dynamic methods highlights the effects of changes in other factors, such as investment income and the role of employed household members, which have previously received less attention. Further study of household survey data and a unique set of tax administration data enabled a decomposition of the Gini coefficient of taxable income to investigate the effect of high earners on income inequality and the accuracy of capturing them in household surveys. This analysis highlights a significant weighting issues of high earners in the latest wave of the household survey data. Therefore, when combining the two types of data sets, a significant decrease in overall inequality of taxable income can be found between 2011 and 2014. The results ascertain the vast differences between the top and the bottom of the income distribution and concrete policies addressing both sides of the issue need to be implemented in order to overcome persisting income inequality. Finally, the strong effects of labour market incomes on overall income inequality warrant further investigation. Therefore, changes in earnings inequality are decomposed to assess the effect of changes in the labour market. The application of micro-simulations thereby allows to decompose the changes in earnings inequality into ‘price effect' and ‘endowment effect' but also to assess the effect of changes in labour market participation, employment, occupational structure and unobserved characteristics. The results show that key drivers of an increase in earnings inequality between 1993 and 2012 were changes in the endowments of working age individuals. This effect was partially counteracted by the price effect. The findings show persisting discrepancies between male and female employment in the labour market and the ongoing marginalization particularly of African women which highlights the need for a revision of existing affirmative action laws and their implementation. The National Development Plan offers several strategies for more inclusive growth for South Africa, however, government is already falling behind with its implementation. Therefore, policy makers need to re-examine the efficiency of current social spending and labour laws in order to set the right growth path for the South African economy. The methods utilized throughout this thesis harmonise different sources of information and enable an integrated analysis of the dynamics of the South African income distribution. The static and dynamic decompositions make use of the 1993 household survey of the Project for Statistics on Living Standards and Development (PSLSD) and the 2008 and 2014 National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS). The assessment of high earners is performed by comparing tax administration data provided by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) for the 2010 and 2014 tax years with household survey data from NIDS in 2011 and 2014. Finally, the decomposition of earnings inequality is carried out using data sets from the Post-Apartheid Labour Market Series (PALMS) between 1993 and 2012.

Personal income tax with the focus on tax exemptions and possibilities of tax reductions This thesis deals with the problematics of the personal income tax. The focus of this thesis is on possibilities of reductions of the tax or the tax base and on tax exemptions. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter explains the general concept of taxes, the history of taxes and the characteristics of the tax law. The author devoted the second chapter to the income tax, especially to its characteristics and its statutory regulation. Nowadays all regulation of the personal income tax is contained in one act, Act no. 586/1992 Coll., Income Tax Act. However, in the past the situation was different and therefore it is necessary to mention also the previous regulation, which was scattered into several acts and other legal regulations. The present Income Tax Act has been valid and effective for almost thirty years and it has been amended to a greater or smaller degree several times. The author mentions these amendments in connection with particular issues throughout the whole thesis in order to compare the present and the previous regulation. The third chapter deals with the theoretical view of taxes. The author writes about the characteristics of taxes in general and also about the special...

This Masters thesis elaborates on the influence of tax unit on the amount of the personal income tax burden in OECD countries. Its aim is to analyse the effect of the nominal tax rate on the development of the tax units application. In the first part I deal with the possible theoretical settings of the tax unit and assesses the advantages and disadvantages that such settings bring about. The second part reflects the practical way of taxation in relation to a particular taxing unit and the related tax relief taking into consideration the social status of the taxpayer. In the final part, which analyses the current trend in the application of the tax unit in OECD countries, maps the trend developments throughout the history and points out how this trend was influenced by the nominal tax rate, I examine the transition from joint taxation to the individual taxation that had been recorded in OECD countries in recent fifty years and had been predominantly caused by the negative impact of the marginal tax rates on the work incentives of second earners in the household.

The thesis deals with the tax wedge specifically on tax burden on labour in the Member States in the European Union. The issue is described in the theoretical part in the first chapter, the practical part is introduced in the second and the third chapter. The aim of the thesis is to analyze the development the basic micro and macro indicators of tax wedge specifically on tax burden on labour. The analysis including graphs is describe from the beginning of the millennium. The Member States are divided into groups according to measured data in the second part and to the data connection to the European Union in the third part. This classification is done for easier to understand and more meaningful value. All analysis illustrate that the highest tax burden is in Belgium and Denmark, lowest in Bulgaria.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the system of personal income taxation in Nigeria, especially with respect to its administration, equity, and effects on efficient resource usage. There have, in the past, been numerous complaints that the personal income tax in Nigeria does not yield enough revenue for the state governments, primarily because of widespread avoidance and evasion of the tax, especially by persons who do not derive income from wages and salaries. This study examines this problem in light of questions as to how the tax evolved, how important it is to state governments, how efficient and equitable it is, what administrative problems it faces, and what reforms can be implemented to best solve existing problems.