IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eso/journl/v42y2011i2p213-235.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Distributional Effects of Value Added Tax in Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • EIMEAR LEAHY

    (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin)

  • SEÁN LYONS

    (Economic and Social Research Institute Dublin, Trinity College Dublin)

  • RICHARD S. J. TOL

    (Economic and Social Research Institute Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, Institute for Environmental Studies Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Department of Spatial Economics Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

In this paper we examine the distributional effects of Value Added Tax (VAT) in Ireland. Using the 2004/2005 Household Budget Survey, we assess the amount of VAT that households pay as a proportion of weekly disposable income. We measure VAT payments by equivalised income decile, households of different composition and different household sizes. The current system is highly regressive. With the use of a micro-simulation model we also estimate the impact of changing the VAT rate on certain groups of items and the associated change in revenue. We also consider how the imposition of a flat rate across all goods and services would affect households in different categories. The Irish Government has recently announced that it proposes to increase the standard rate of VAT to 22 per cent in 2013 and to 23 per cent in 2014. We examine the distributional implications of such increases. The general pattern of results shows that those hardest hit are households in the first income decile, households in rural areas, 6 person households and households containing a single adult with children.

Suggested Citation

  • Eimear Leahy & Seán Lyons & Richard S. J. Tol, 2011. "The Distributional Effects of Value Added Tax in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 42(2), pages 213-235.
    • Handle: RePEc:eso:journl:v:42:y:2011:i:2:p:213-235
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.esr.ie/vol42_2/06%20Tol%20article_ESRI%20Vol%2042-2.pdf
    File Function: First version,2011
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard S. J. Tol & Tim Callan & Thomas Conefrey & John FitzGerald & Seán Lyons & Laura Malaguzzi Valeri & Susan Scott, 2008. "A Carbon Tax for Ireland," Papers WP246, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    2. Tim Callan & Claire Keane & John Walsh, 2010. "What Role for Property Taxes in Ireland?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 41(1), pages 87-107.
    3. Verde, Stefano & Tol, Richard S. J., 2009. "The Distributional Impact of a Carbon Tax in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 40(3), pages 317-338.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Who pays tax in Ireland? The little quiz revisited
      by Ronan Lyons in Ronan Lyons on 2012-04-10 16:52:24

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Claudio A. Agostini & Marcela Perticara & Javiera Selman, 2023. "Tackling Vulnerable Households through a Working Tax Credit Scheme: A Feasible Alternative to Cash Transfers," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 245(2), pages 119-155, June.
    2. Cuceu Ionuţ-Constantin & Văidean Viorela-Ligia, 2018. "Redistributing Income through VAT," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 588-592, December.
    3. Luca Gandullia & Lucia Leporatti, 2019. "Distributional effects of gambling taxes: empirical evidence from Italy," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(4), pages 565-590, December.
    4. Mukherjee, Sacchidananda, 2025. "Distributional Impact of Indian GST based on the NSSO's Household Consumption Expenditure Survey of 2022-23," Working Papers 25/430, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.
    5. Claudio A., Agostini & Javiera, Selman & Marcela, Perticará, 2013. "Una propuesta de crédito tributario al ingreso para Chile," Estudios Públicos, Centro de Estudios Públicos, vol. 0(129), pages 49-104.
    6. Lyudmila P. Koroleva, 2020. "Impact of Value Added Tax on Macro-Economic Parameters of the Russian Economy," Journal of Tax Reform, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 6(1), pages 22-35.
    7. Callan, Tim & Keane, Claire & Savage, Michael & Walsh, John R., 2013. "Distributional Impact of Tax, Welfare and Public Service Pay Policies: Budget 2014 and Budgets 2009-2014," Quarterly Economic Commentary: Special Articles, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    8. David Madden & Michael Savage, 2020. "Which households matter most? Capturing equity considerations in tax reform via generalised social marginal welfare weights," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(1), pages 153-193, February.
    9. IonuÈ›-Constantin Cuceu, 2016. "The Distributional Effects of Value Added Tax," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 450-454, February.
    10. Thomas, Alastair, 2015. "The Distributional Effects of Consumption Taxes in New Zealand," Working Paper Series 19331, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    11. Lanterna, Federica, 2024. "Trying to find a balance: Energy excise duties in the context of climate targets, energy shocks, and redistributive goals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    12. Susan Namirembe Kavuma & Christine Byaruhanga & Nicholas Musoke & Patrick Loke & Michael Noble & Gemma Wright, 2020. "An analysis of the distributional impact of excise duty in Uganda using a tax-benefit microsimulation model," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-70, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Thomas, Alastair, 2015. "The Distributional Effects of Consumption Taxes in New Zealand," Working Paper Series 4668, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    14. Claudio A Agostini & Marcela Perticara & Javiera Selman, 2014. "An Earned Income Tax Proposal for Chile," Working Papers wp_037, Adolfo Ibáñez University, School of Government.
    15. Duffy, David & FitzGerald, John & Timoney, Kevin & Byrne, David, 2013. "Quarterly Economic Commentary, Winter 2013," Forecasting Report, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number QEC20134.
    16. Reaños, Miguel Tovar & De Bruin, Kelly & Meier, David & Yakut, Aykut Mert, 2022. "Economic and Distributional Impacts of turning the Value-Added Tax into a Carbon Tax," Papers WP739, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    17. Lockwood, Matthew, 2016. "The UK's Levy Control Framework for renewable electricity support: Effects and significance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 193-201.
    18. Kristina Stefanova, 2024. "Public Sector Impact on Income Inequality in CEE Countries," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 3, pages 78-97.
    19. Wasiu Adekunle Are, 2012. "Poverty-Reducing Directions of Indirect Marginal Tax Reforms in Ireland," Working Papers 201230, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    20. McQuinn, Kieran & Foley, Daniel & Kelly, Elish, 2016. "Quarterly Economic Commentary, Winter 2016," Forecasting Report, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number QEC20164.
    21. Keane, Claire & Callan, Tim & Savage, Michael & Walsh, John R. & Colgan, Brian, 2014. "Distributional Impact of Tax, Welfare and Public Service Pay Policies: Budget 2015 and Budgets 2009-2015," Quarterly Economic Commentary: Special Articles, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    22. Alastair Thomas, 2022. "Reassessing the regressivity of the VAT," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 23-38, March.
    23. David (David Patrick) Madden & Michael Savage, 2015. "Which Households Matter Most? Capturing Equity Considerations in Tax Reform via Generalised Social Marginal Welfare Weights," Working Papers 201502, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    24. Robert Hagemann, 2018. "Tax Policies for Inclusive Growth: Prescription versus Practice," OECD Economic Policy Papers 24, OECD Publishing.
    25. Valentinova Tasseva, Iva & De Agostini, Paola & Paulus, Alari & Sutherland, Holly, 2014. "The effect of tax-benefit changes on the income distribution in EU countries since the beginning of the economic crisis," EUROMOD Working Papers EM9/14, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John Curtis, Valeria Di Cosmo, and Paul Deane, 2014. "Climate policy, interconnection and carbon leakage: The effect of unilateral UK policy on electricity and GHG emissions in Ireland," Economics of Energy & Environmental Policy, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 2).
    2. de Bruin, Kelly & Monaghan, Eoin & Yakut, Aykut Mert, 2019. "The economic and distributional impacts of an increased carbon tax with different revenue recycling schemes," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS95, December.
    3. Peter Grösche & Carsten Schröder, 2014. "On the redistributive effects of Germany’s feed-in tariff," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1339-1383, June.
    4. Nils Ohlendorf & Michael Jakob & Jan Christoph Minx & Carsten Schröder & Jan Christoph Steckel, 2021. "Distributional Impacts of Carbon Pricing: A Meta-Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(1), pages 1-42, January.
    5. Ditya Agung Nurdianto, 2016. "Economic Impacts of a Carbon Tax in an Integrated ASEAN," EEPSEA Special and Technical Paper tp201604t5, Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA), revised Apr 2016.
    6. Tirkaso, Wondmagegn Tafesse & Gren, Ing-Marie, 2020. "Road fuel demand and regional effects of carbon taxes in Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    7. Thomas Conefrey & John D. Fitz Gerald & Laura Malaguzzi Valeri & Richard S.J. Tol, 2013. "The impact of a carbon tax on economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions in Ireland," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(7), pages 934-952, September.
    8. Koesler, Simon & Achtnicht, Martin & Köhler, Jonathan, 2015. "Course set for a cap? A case study among ship operators on a maritime ETS," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 20-30.
    9. Di Cosmo, Valeria & Hyland, Marie, 2013. "Carbon tax scenarios and their effects on the Irish energy sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 404-414.
    10. Wang, Qian & Hubacek, Klaus & Feng, Kuishuang & Wei, Yi-Ming & Liang, Qiao-Mei, 2016. "Distributional effects of carbon taxation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1123-1131.
    11. Kilgarriff, Paul & Charlton, Martin & Foley, Ronan & O'Donoghue, Cathal, 2019. "The impact of housing consumption value on the spatial distribution of welfare," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 118-130.
    12. Qiao-Mei Liang & Qian Wang & Yi-Ming Wei, 2013. "Assessing the Distributional Impacts of Carbon Tax among Households across Different Income Groups: The Case of China," Energy & Environment, , vol. 24(7-8), pages 1323-1346, December.
    13. Nils Ohlendorf & Michael Jakob & Jan Christoph Minx & Carsten Schröder & Jan Christoph Steckel, 2018. "Distributional Impacts of Climate Mitigation Policies - a Meta-Analysis," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1776, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Brendan O'Connor, 2013. "The Structure of Ireland’s Tax System and Options for Growth Enhancing Reform," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 44(4), pages 511-540.
    15. Niall Farrell & Seán Lyons, 2016. "Equity impacts of energy and climate policy: who is shouldering the burden?," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(5), pages 492-509, September.
    16. Legge, Thomas & Scott, Susan, 2009. "Policy Options to Reduce Ireland's GHG Emissions [Instrument choice: the pros and cons of alternative policy instruments]," Papers WP284, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    17. Cludius, Johanna & Beznoska, Martin & Steiner, Viktor, 2012. "Distributional effects of the European Emissions Trading System and the role of revenue recycling: Empirical evidence from combined industry- and household-level data," Discussion Papers 2012/6, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    18. Farrell, Niall, 2017. "What Factors Drive Inequalities in Carbon Tax Incidence? Decomposing Socioeconomic Inequalities in Carbon Tax Incidence in Ireland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 31-45.
    19. Scott, Susan & Lyons, Sean & Keane, Claire & McCarthy, Donal & Tol, Richard S. J., 2008. "Fuel Poverty in Ireland: Extent, Affected Groups and Policy Issues," Papers WP262, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    20. Jules Linden & Cathal O’Donoghue & Denisa M. Sologon, 2023. "Decomposing the distributional impact of carbon taxation across six EU countries - Comparing the role of budget shares, carbon intensity, savings rates, and asset ownership," LISER Working Paper Series 2023-10, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eso:journl:v:42:y:2011:i:2:p:213-235. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Aedin Doris (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.esr.ie .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.