Effects of Brazil’s High Taxation (Higgins & Pereira)

The effects of Brazil’s high taxation and social spending on the distribution of household income by Sean Higgins and Claudiney Pereira published by Commitment to Equity (01/2013). “…The rich detail of our data set allows us to single out the effects of each direct tax and transfer without simulating taxes or benefits. On the spending side, we find that although Brazil has some well-targeted anti-poverty programs, a large portion of direct fransfer beneficiaries are non-poor and inequality and poverty reduction are low relative to Brazil’s spending. On the tax side, indirect taxes paid by the poor often surpass the benefits they receive.”