¿Afectan los impuestos a la (des)igualdad de Género?El caso del IRPF español

Resumo

This article analyzes the Spanish personal income tax (IRPF) in force in 2007 using a gender-equality perspective. By reprogramming the OECD tax-benefit models, the factors which enhance the different behavior patterns of men and women are examined, considering that they lead to problems of efficiency and equity. After a brief introduction, the second section demonstrates the relevance of fiscal policy analysis from a gender perspective and its timeliness. Section 3 describes the joint tax return system currently in effect; in section 4 we calculate and analyze the high effective tax rates that married women have to bear due to this system; and section 5 is devoted to assess the regressive nature that the tax relief for joint return —known as 'relief for dependent spouse´ in the relevant literature— has. Section 6 is dedicated to evaluate the tax treatment of children by comparing different types of families and tax reliefs in order to point out the problems of horizontal and vertical inequity that arise. The last section contains the summary and conclusions.