engleski

Impact of Tax Reliefs and Child Benefits on Family Disposable Income in Slovenia, Croatia and Austria

The purpuse of the paper is to show how standard tax reliefs (basic and dependents-related) reflect themselves in the individual/family tax burden, and what is the joint impact of tax savings and child benefits on family disposable income. There is a difference in the form of tax reliefs in the three countries:in Slovenia and Croatia there are basic tax allowances, tax allowances for a dependent spouse and child tax allowances, while in Austria there are tax credits for the only breadwinner and for lone parents, as well as refundable child tax credits. Child tax reliefs are progressive with the number of children in all the three countries. Two average tax rates were calculated: one taking into acount only income tax, and the other taking account both income tax and mandatory social security contributions. The impact of tax rates on the take-home pay of nine family types differing according to their initial labour income is calculated and evaluated. The differences in tax savings are discussed. Family disposable income is influenced by child benefits as well. In Slovenia, only families with the per capita income up to 110% of the average wage are entitled to child benefits. In Croatia, the upper per capita income limit for the entitlement to the child benefit is set at about 40% of the average wage. In both countries child benefits decrease as family income increases. In Austria, however, child benefits are a universal transfer, which differs according to the age of child. The shares of child allowances in the family disposable income are compared and discussed across the three countries. Family tax and benefit treatment and their impact on work incentive are evaluated also on the basis of marginal tax rates.

standard tax reliefs; family tax burden; family disposable income; child benefits

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