This thesis studies the effects on the unemployment rate and average income due to the payroll tax cuts for young workers in Sweden. The method that has been used is a difference-in-difference approach with two different control groups. The unemployment rate for Swedish individuals at age 15-24 has been matched towards individuals at the same age in Finland and Denmark. The data behind the estimations is picked from the database of Eurostat. The results indicate an increase in the unemployment rate, contrary to the expectations from the theoretical framework in the subject. One possible explanation for a lack of increase in employment due to a targeted tax cut is shifting, meaning that the lowered cost for firms is shifted onto the employees’ wages. However, no significant results on the wage effect were found, so no such conclusion can be made. The explanation could lay in modeling problems, a growing labor force or the supply of labor (which may choose other alternatives than employment). By the results of this report, the main conclusion is that the payroll tax reductions did not reduce the high unemployment rate among young individuals in Sweden.

This thesis comprises four chapters, in two parts. The first part examines the result of a Swedish payroll tax reduction; first from the perspective of the worker, then from that of the employer. The second half of the thesis concerns subjective well-being, both from an individual and from an aggregate viewpoint. Payroll Taxes and Youth Labor Demand. In 2007, the Swedish payroll tax was reduced substantially for young workers. This paper examines whether targeted payroll tax reductions are effective in raising youth employment. We estimate a small impact, both on employment and on wages. However, the effect differs markedly across ages, with 4–5 times higher impact on 22–23 year-olds compared to 25-year-olds. Additionally, the employment effects are strongly procyclical, approaching zero in the deep recession. We calculate that the estimated cost per created job is more than four times that of directly hiring workers at the average wage. Payroll Taxes and Firm Performance. The Swedish payroll tax reform of 2007 had the effect that firms' average social fees came to depend on the age structure of their employees. This makes it possible to estimate how firms respond to shocks in labor costs. We find a significant, but very small effect on gross investments, and a negative, but not statistically significant, impact on labor productivity. There are no effects on exit rates or profitability. Beyond Income: The Importance for Life Satisfaction of Having Access to a Cash Margin. We study how life satisfaction among adult Swedes is influenced by having access to a cash margin, i.e. a moderate amount of money that could be acquired on short notice either through own savings, by loan from family or friends, or by other means. We find that cash margin is a strong and robust predictor of life satisfaction, also when controlling for individual fixed-effects and socio-economic conditions, including income. This suggests that cash margin captures something beyond wealth. On Aggregating Subjective Well-Being. This paper discusses the assumptions underlying the aggregation of individually measured well-being. Any aggregation method is associated with measurability assumptions regarding the underlying well-being measure, as well as moral philosophical assumptions with respect to how individual well-being is weighted into a composite metric. I compare welfare across a set of countries, under alternative aggregation methods, and find that countries often can be ranked under comparatively weak measurement assumptions, and, equally important, that aggregation methods can be chosen so as to refrain from strong ethical preconceptions.

Under covid-19-pandemin sänkte den svenska regeringen arbetsgivaravgiften för arbetstagare i åldrarna19–23 år. Denna uppsats studerar effekten av denna sänkning på sysselsättning under åren 2020–2022,utifrån registerdata från svenska myndigheter. Genom två difference-in-difference-modeller, jämför jagdels sysselsättningsgraden för 20–24-åringar mot sysselsättningsgraden hos 25–29-åringar, delssysselsättningen i branscher med hög andel anställda i åldrarna 20–24 år mot sysselsättningen ibranscher med en medelhög andel anställda i åldrarna 20–24 år. Jag finner ett positiv samband mellanreformen och sysselsättning i behandlingsgruppen under reformperioden. Resultaten indikerar att sänktaarbetsgivaravgifter ökade sysselsättningsgraden för 20–24-åringar med 1,0–1,7 procentenheter, ochökade sysselsättningen i branscher med en hög andel anställda i åldrarna 20–24 år med 2,3 procent. Atteffekten är större med branschmodellen stärker också tidigare slutsatser att subventioner riktade motspecifika grupper på arbetsmarknaden påverkar den gynnade gruppen heterogent, och inte likartat påhela arbetsmarknaden. Jag finner även i strid med tidigare forskning, en tydlig positiv effekt försysselsättningen hos utrikesfödda. / During the Covid-19 pandemic the Swedish government lowered payroll taxes for employees aged 19to 23 years old. This thesis studies the effect of these lowered payroll taxes on employment during theyears 2020–2022, using register data from Swedish tax collecting and social service agencies. Usingtwo difference-in-difference models, I firstly compare the employment rate for 20–24-year-olds to theemployment rate for 25–29-years-olds, and secondly compare employment in industries with a highshare of 20–24 years old employees to industries with a medium share of 20–24 years old employees. Ifind a small, positive correlation between the reform and employment in the targeted groups during thereform period. These results indicate that lowered payroll taxes increased the employment rate for 20–24-year-olds by 1.0–1.7 percentage points, and increased employment in industries with a large shareof 20–24-year-old workers by 2.3 percent. The fact the effect is larger using the industry analysissupports previous conclusions that subsidies targeted at specific groups on the labour market affectsthe favoured group heterogeneously, and not equally across the labour market. I also find, contrary toprevious research, a clear effect on employment for foreign born workers.

The thesis analyzes and compares tax burden on employees in the Czech Republic and Belgium. The first part summarizes the tax systems of the two countries, and describes how to proceed in the calculation of their tax burden. The second part deals with the comparison of effective tax rates for different types of taxpayers. The third part discusses the tax progressivity in terms of local progressivity, which is measured by using provided intervals and determines for which income categories is the progressivity most important. Lorenz curve in the last part shows graphically global tax progressivity and redistribution of income in society. The Gini coefficient measures it. Final evaluation highlights the important ties between the two countries, compares with other countries of the European Union and its future development especially in the area of taxation of wages.

Diploma thesis deals with payroll accounting in terms of labor law, health, social security and payroll taxes. The aim is to show how the wage is calculated with respect to the current legislation in 2014 and to clarify what influences the amount of net monthly income of employees. An important part of this work is to compare the calculation of wages of Slovak and Czech employees and analysis of the differences in their net income.

The tax system in South Africa makes provision for every South African citizen to contribute to a greater or lesser extent to funding the National Health Insurance (NHI), either through VAT or PAYE. However, as a result of the high unemployment rate, a large gap exists between tax and non-tax contributors. The question can now be asked whether it is fair that just a small percentage of taxpayers are responsible for the total funding of the NHI. Furthermore, it could be asked whether the taxpayer is aware of the additional tax burden the NHI will impose on him/her. The purpose of this research was to investigate three countries, namely, Brazil, Spain and Germany, where some form of NHI is in operation, in order to find a possible appropriate funding model for South Africa's NHI and, ultimately, to make conclusions and recommendations based on the outcomes. It was subsequently found that, although the taxpayer should be more heavily taxed in order to fund the NHI, there are a few other possibilities for distributing the tax burden more evenly. However, the impact of the proposed adjustment to increase VAT could have a negative impact on the non-taxpayer and might contribute to greater poverty in South Africa. / MCom (South African and International Taxation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The tax system in South Africa makes provision for every South African citizen to contribute to a greater or lesser extent to funding the National Health Insurance (NHI), either through VAT or PAYE. However, as a result of the high unemployment rate, a large gap exists between tax and non-tax contributors. The question can now be asked whether it is fair that just a small percentage of taxpayers are responsible for the total funding of the NHI. Furthermore, it could be asked whether the taxpayer is aware of the additional tax burden the NHI will impose on him/her. The purpose of this research was to investigate three countries, namely, Brazil, Spain and Germany, where some form of NHI is in operation, in order to find a possible appropriate funding model for South Africa's NHI and, ultimately, to make conclusions and recommendations based on the outcomes. It was subsequently found that, although the taxpayer should be more heavily taxed in order to fund the NHI, there are a few other possibilities for distributing the tax burden more evenly. However, the impact of the proposed adjustment to increase VAT could have a negative impact on the non-taxpayer and might contribute to greater poverty in South Africa. / MCom (South African and International Taxation), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014