Decisions regarding personal income tax and transfer reforms are inevitably subject to value judgements. Hence, there is a crucial role for policy analysis in which the implications of clearly expressed values are considered. Tax models play a central role in such analyses. This paper reviews a number of tax models and illustrates their use in the context of the New Zealand income tax and transfer system. It is suggested that the appropriate economic models vary according to: the precise ways in which the policy question is formulated; the underlying behavioural responses to taxation expected across the taxpaying population; the precise definitions of key variables such as income inequality; and the specification of policy objectives such as redistribution, revenue-raising or tax efficiency.

中文翻译：

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设计个人所得税和转移改革：替代建模方法

关于个人所得税和转让改革的决定不可避免地受到价值判断的影响。因此，政策分析在考虑明确表达的价值观的含义时起着至关重要的作用。税收模型在此类分析中发挥着核心作用。本文回顾了一些税收模型，并说明了它们在新西兰所得税和转移制度的背景下的使用。建议适当的经济模型根据： 制定政策问题的精确方式；纳税人口对税收的潜在行为反应；收入不平等等关键变量的精确定义；以及政策目标的具体说明，例如再分配、增加收入或税收效率。