Quando il governo sceglie un sistema per raccogliere le tasse, influenza la distribuzione del reddito. Questo è chiaro nel caso di tasse progressive sul reddito, laddove le famiglie ad alto reddito subiscono un’aliquota sul loro reddito più alta rispetto alle famiglie a basso reddito. Un criterio importante nel disegnare il sistema fiscale è quello dell’equità tra diverse fasce di reddito.

Molti economisti hanno suggerito di incrementare il reddito dei poveri usando una tassa negativa sul reddito. In questo modo ogni famiglia dovrebbe riportare il proprio reddito al governo. Le famiglie ad alto reddito pagherebbero una tassa basata sul loro reddito. Le famiglie a basso reddito riceverebbero un sussidio. In altri termini, pagherebbero una tassa negativa.

 

Per esempio, supponiamo che il governo usi la formula seguente per calcolare una tassa su una tamiglia.

 

 

For example, suppose the government used the following formula to compute

a family’s tax liability:

Taxes owed 5 (1⁄3 of income) 2 $10,000.

In this case, a family that earned $60,000 would pay $10,000 in taxes, and a family

that earned $90,000 would pay $20,000 in taxes. A family that earned $30,000

would owe nothing. And a family that earned $15,000 would “owe” 2$5,000. In

other words, the government would send this family a check for $5,000.

Under a negative income tax, poor families would receive financial assistance

without having to demonstrate need. The only qualification required to receive

assistance would be a low income. Depending on one’s point of view, this feature

can be either an advantage or a disadvantage. On the one hand, a negative

income tax does not encourage illegitimate births and the breakup of families,

as critics of the welfare system believe current policy does. On the other hand,

a negative income tax would subsidize not only the unfortunate but also those

who are simply lazy and, in some people’s eyes, undeserving of government

support.

One actual tax provision that works much like a negative income tax is the

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This credit allows poor working families to

receive income tax refunds greater than the taxes they paid during the year.

Because the Earned Income Tax Credit applies only to the working poor, it does

not discourage recipients from working, as other antipoverty programs are

claimed to do. For the same reason, however, it also does not help alleviate poverty

due to unemployment, sickness, or other inability to work.