Skattereform

Skattereform, or tax reform, refers to government policy changes designed to alter the structure of a country’s tax system. The aim is to improve efficiency by reducing economic distortions, enhance equity by making the system fairer, and secure reliable revenue for public spending. Reforms can be comprehensive, overhauling multiple taxes at once, or incremental, changing a single component such as personal income tax or value-added tax (VAT).

Common elements include broadening the tax base by closing loopholes and eliminating exemptions; adjusting rate schedules, often lowering top marginal rates while expanding income brackets; simplifying the code to reduce compliance costs; reforming capital taxation to improve neutrality between saving and consumption; and revising consumption taxes or property taxes, along with targeted credits or deductions to address distributional concerns.

Implementation involves legislative approval, administrative modernization to improve collection and enforcement, and transitional rules to manage winners and losers among households and firms. The results are debated: proponents argue for higher growth, simpler compliance, and fairer burdens; opponents warn of potential revenue shortfalls, adverse distributional effects, and implementation costs. Outcomes depend on design details, macroeconomic conditions, and accompanying policies.

Examples of skattereform in practice include major reforms in the United States, such as the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and more recent changes, as well as various European and Nordic country reforms that have aimed to simplify the tax code, broaden bases, and reform capital and consumption taxes. The term is used broadly to describe ongoing efforts to modernize tax systems in many economies.