The Redistributive impact of the tax burdea on the income distribution of Thailand

Abstract

In those countries whose economic systems tend to be competi-tive, resources and products are allocated by the price mechanism. But the optimum allocation of resources and products generated by the price system does not guarantee that the economy also has an optimal income distribution. Even though countries do not know what the proper state of income distribution should be, at least they realize that too much Anche inequality is not desirable, for it causes serious conflict among the people in the society and, consequently, chaos in the economy. Το reduce income inequality, governments have to concern themselves both directly and indirectly. In a direct way, governments pay money in social programs for the poor, for example, public health programs, public educa-tion and so on. In an indirect way, governments use taxation policy to redistribute income or reduce income inequality. Theoretically, the per-sonal income tax is the best type of tax for reducing income inequality, because the burden cannot be shifted, or else is shifted only a little, and can easily be levied in a progressive way. Indirect taxes namely import duties, business tax, excise tax and export duties, on the other hand, cannot reduce inequality effectively because the burden can be shifted and, moreover their structure tends to be regressive. In this study, we want to observe what the degree of progressivity or regressivity ....