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The fiscal impact of immigration in the EU

Author

Listed:
  • Christl, Michael
  • Bélanger, Alain
  • Conte, Alessandra
  • Mazza, Jacopo
  • Narazani, Edlira

Abstract

The increasing flows of immigrants in Europe over the last decade has generated a range of considerations in the policy agenda of many receiving countries. One of the main considerations for policy makers and public opinions alike is whether immigrants contribute their ”fair” share to their host country tax and welfare system. This paper seeks to answer this question based on an empirical assessment of the net fiscal contributions of immigrants in the 27 EU Member States using EUROMOD, a EU-wide tax-benefit microsimulation model. In addition to the traditional view of the tax-benefit system, we add indirect taxation and in-kind benefits to the analysis of net contributions. Our findings highlight that migrants on average contributed about 250 euro per year more than natives to the welfare state in 2015. However, when we take an average age-specific life-cycle perspective, we find that natives generally show a higher net fiscal contribution than both, intra-EU and extra-EU migrants, while extra-EU migrants contribute on average less than intra-EU migrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Christl, Michael & Bélanger, Alain & Conte, Alessandra & Mazza, Jacopo & Narazani, Edlira, 2021. "The fiscal impact of immigration in the EU," GLO Discussion Paper Series 814, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:814
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Căpraru, Bogdan & Georgescu, George & Sprincean, Nicu, 2022. "Do independent fiscal institutions cause better fiscal outcomes in the European Union?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 46(2).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migration; Microsimulation; Tax-benefit system; EUROMOD;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies

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