Tax expenditures (TEs) are preferential tax treatments granted to specific individuals or categories of households, with the aim of achieving social and economic goals. They are widely used by EU Member States. However, their fiscal and equity impacts are not always clear and their effectiveness and efficiency as a policy instrument need to be carefully evaluated, especially in the present context of constrained public finances. This article quantifies the fiscal and equity effects of social TEs related to housing, education and health in 28 European countries making use of EUROMOD, the EU-wide microsimulation model. We find a variety of effects, in terms of sign and magnitude, across Member States, and within these, among types of households. Overall, our findings suggest that the impact of TE on tax revenues and on income inequalities can be sizable. The redistributive impact of removing TEs can go in both directions, either on the progressive or regressive side, depending on the country and the TE considered.

中文翻译：

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欧盟社会税收支出对财政和公平的影响

税收支出（TE）是授予特定个人或家庭类别的税收优惠，目的是实现社会和经济目标。它们被欧盟成员国广泛使用。但是，它们对财政和股权的影响并不总是很清楚，作为政策手段的有效性和效率需要仔细评估，尤其是在当前公共财政有限的情况下。本文通过使用欧盟范围内的微观模拟模型EUROMOD量化了28个欧洲国家中与住房，教育和卫生相关的社会TE的财政和公平效应。我们发现，在会员国之间，以及在其中，在不同类型的家庭中，在符号和大小方面都有多种影响。总体，我们的研究结果表明，TE对税收和收入不平等的影响是可观的。删除TE的重新分配影响可以朝着进步的方向或从消极的方向来看，这取决于国家和所考虑的TE。