skatteøkonomi

Skatteøkonomi, or tax economics, is the field of economics that studies how taxes and fiscal policy affect the behavior of individuals and firms, resource allocation, income distribution, and government finances. It encompasses the design of tax systems, the interaction between tax policy and the broader economy, and the administrative mechanisms that collect revenue.

A core focus is the structure of taxes, including bases, rates, exemptions, and deductions. Taxes are typically categorized as direct (for example income and corporate taxes) and indirect (such as value-added tax or excises). The design aims to balance revenue sufficiency with considerations of efficiency, simplicity, and equity, while assessing how taxes influence work effort, investment, saving, consumption, and entrepreneurship.

Key concepts include tax incidence, elasticity, and deadweight loss, which describe how the burden of taxes falls on different agents and the efficiency costs imposed on the economy. Progressive tax systems or targeted reliefs, for instance, affect income distribution, while neutrality seeks to minimize distortions to economic decisions.

Administration and compliance are also central, covering how taxes are collected, enforcement of rules, and the costs of compliance and avoidance. International aspects include transfer pricing, double taxation agreements, combating base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS), and the treatment of cross-border transactions and digital services.

Researchers use empirical data, economic models, and microsimulation to evaluate policies. Skatteøkonomi informs policymaking by analyzing trade-offs between revenue, efficiency, equity, and competitiveness, and by forecasting the economic and distributional effects of proposed tax reforms.