ISP Working Paper Number 07-17

Moving Towards Dual Income Taxation in Europe

Bernd Genser and Andreas Reutter, July 2007

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Abstract:

The paper summarizes the arguments in favor of a shift from comprehensive to dual income taxation and complements the discussion by an overview on tax reforms which reveal the characteristic features of a dual income tax system. The scope of our analysis is not restricted to the Nordic countries, we also include other European countries, whose tax reform steps can be regarded as a move toward a dual income tax. We focus on problems of running a final withholding income tax regime under individual and household taxation including the most recent dual income tax reforms in the Nordic countries, but nevertheless argue that it may be worthwhile for the Commission to consider dual income taxation as a blueprint for income tax coordination in the EU.