Fairness in Changing Income Tax: 8 options compared

Social Justice Ireland believes that the best reform to the income taxation system would be to make tax credits refundable. Such a reform would mean that the full value of tax credits goes to everybody who has an earned income. The main beneficiaries would be low-paid employees (full-time and part-time). This option would improve the net income of workers whose incomes are lowest. As discussion and policy considerations often focus on income taxation reductions we have undertaken this study to examine, from the perspective of fairness, various reform choices. As a minimum, the analysis highlights the distributive impact taxation policy choices can have and the potential policy has to pursue both fair and unfair outcomes.