Abstract:
Gender difference in taxation is generally understudied, especially in sociologyliterature, which often overlooks taxation as a social phenomenon.While a small literature, studies on gender and taxation from a wider range of disciplines have offered and tested some core mechanisms producing gender difference in taxpaymentand post-tax income. One such mechanism is degree of tax progressivity. Most research onprogressivity andgender difference in taxation analyzes one or two countries. Less research has used cross-national methods and larger samplesof countries.This paperuses the most recent dataset for 27 countries (Waves IX, X, XI, from 2013to 2018)from the Luxembourg Income Study Database (LIS)and a sample of single working men and women between the ages of 25and 64 toaddressunanswered questions about the relationship between tax progressivity and gender differences in income tax payment andpost-tax income. As expected, progressive taxationtaxesmenat a higher rate whengender income gaps favor men, while, in countrieswith less progressive taxation,men paid rates more similar to women, regardless of gender gapsize. Income tax progressivity was also associated with greater gender equality in income post-tax. These results support tax progressivity as a tool for producing more gender-equal income distributions post-tax. Alongsideprevious research, these findingsindicate thatpolicymakersseekinggreater gender equityshould prioritize both progressive taxation and individual tax filing. Such arrangements allowprogressive taxation to supportgender equality in income without discouraging labor force participation for coupled women.
