A New Revenue Sharing Act and a New Stability Pact for Austria – No Fundamental Changes
The new Austrian domestic Stability Pact aims at the achievement of a zero deficit until 2008. At the federal level, the Maastricht-relevant deficit is to be reduced to 0.75 percent of GDP, states and municipalities together are obliged to obtain a surplus of 0.75 percent of GDP in 2008. The new revenue sharing agreement will not change fiscal relations fundamentally. The weight of shared federal taxes will increase; most of them will be distributed according to uniform revenue shares. The revenues of the smallest municipalities from the horizontal apportionment of shared federal taxes will increase. The states' strong dependency on intergovernmental transfers will not be reduced, the tax autonomy of the subnational levels of government will remain low.
¿Entre dos o entre todos? Examen y propuestas para la coordinación presupuestaria en España
El trabajo analiza los mecanismos de coordinacion presupuestaria en Espana, con especial atencion a las Comunidades Autonomas. Se evalua en particular la ultima reforma de la normativa de estabilidad presupuestaria de 2006. Los resultados muestran una eficacia general agregada en terminos de reduccion del deficit publico, si bien son muy destacables algunos desbordamientos individuales en ciertas Comunidades Autonomas. La crisis economica ha puesto a prueba la normativa de estabilidad presupuestaria y, por ello, se propone avanzar hacia un nuevo marco, mas flexible pero igualmente eficaz.
Options for Reforming the Finnish Tax System
This paper reviews the Finnish tax system and the scope for further tax reform. Finland is among the most egalitarian countries in the OECD and a high tax burden is required to finance the associated public spending. Nevertheless, capital and corporate income taxation was substantially and effectively reformed in the early 1990s, through significant rate cuts cum base broadening measures. But, despite income tax cuts since the mid-1990s, high taxes, especially on labour income, still hamper growth potential and distort economic behaviour. In this respect, the poor performance of the Finnish labour market is revealing. Tax reforms have a major role to play in improving the long-term performance of the Finnish economy. Though the scope is limited, the tax burden should be shifted as much as possible from labour to property and consumption, while the earned-income tax allowance should play a smaller role, enabling cuts in statutory rates. Redesigning social security contributions to ...