revenueraising

Revenue-raising measures refer to government actions designed to increase public sector revenue to fund public services, reduce deficits, or stabilize debt. They are typically considered part of fiscal policy alongside expenditure adjustments.

Common instruments include tax policy changes such as raising rates, broadening the tax base, and reducing exemptions; new or higher taxes such as value-added tax, personal or corporate income tax, and excises; as well as higher user fees, licensing charges, property taxes, and royalties.

These measures are deployed to address budgetary gaps, fund public programs, or improve debt dynamics. They interact with growth, distributional effects, and administrative capacity, and may be affected by political constraints.

Trade-offs are central to evaluation: while revenue gains can fund essential services, certain measures can be regressive or distort economic behavior. Policymakers may mitigate impacts with targeted relief, credits, or exemptions for low-income households, and by designing efficient tax administration.

Examples familiar in practice include increases in value-added or sales taxes, broadening of the income or corporate tax base, higher excises on tobacco and alcohol, property tax reforms, and the introduction of digital services taxes or environmental levies.

In fiscal policy discussions, revenue-raising is balanced against efficiency, equity, and growth considerations.