Abstract

Most current tax systems of developed countries are grounded on a faulty economic design and face serious operational difficulties. Two companion issues stand out among several factors. First, tax competition in a globalized economy has reduced the effective tax rates on companies and top personal incomes. Second, and perhaps more important, the labour income share has progressively decreased by 10-15 percentage points over the last 30 years. However, all tax systems still rely mainly on labour income levies. This article tackles these issues with reference mainly to Italy and advances proposals for a comprehensive tax system reform.