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The assessment of horizontal tax equity

Summary/Abstract: Quest for justice in the taxation seems to be the timeless problem. Complexity of issues related to the public finance – combined with the compulsory character of public duties – raise the natural question concerning fair distribution of burdens. One of the basic, undis¬puted rules within the theory of taxation is the principle of horizontal equity. This principle, postulating equal treatment of equals, embodies both universality and uniformity of taxation. In this sense, horizontal tax equity could be treated as a basic property of the tax system – however, there exists no widely accepted way of measuring this phenomenon. In this context, the aim of this paper is the comparison of measures of horizontal tax equity. The first one is based on the decomposition of the Atkinson–Plotnick–Kakwani index (RAPK), while the second one – on the changes in the ranking of taxpayers in the income distribution. The analysis is performed for the data on income and taxes, originating from one of the Lower-Silesian tax offices.

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