Income Taxes and Benefits among Czech Employees: Changes since 1989 and a Cross-National Comparison

Statistical income surveys are used to show the separate and joint effects of taxes and transfers on the distribution of household income among employees in the Czech Republic. On the face of it, the state takes more from and gives less to households, compared with the situation before 1989, and the redistributive effect of the new system is much stronger. In a cross-national comparison, the results depend on the sources and the methods used. When taxes and benefits are taken separately, it can be said that the Czech state taxes upper-income households considerably, but not to an extreme extent, and that the targeting of benefits to low-income families is narrow, though not the narrowest. When a summary measure is applied, the Czech system appears to be no more redistributive than those of other countries. It is found that personal income tax reforms affect redistribution flows only to a very limited degree.