Tributação ambiental e hipótese do duplo dividendo

: elementos de uma abordagem através de modelos de equilíbrio geral computáveis

Abstract

The hypothesis of a double dividend resulting from an environmental fiscal reform that transfers the tax burden from labor income to taxes on environment damaging activities has given rise to a large debate since the nineties. According to this hypothesis, the environmental taxes not only improve the quality of the environment, but also reduce the economic inefficiencies of labor taxes, generating a positive impact on social welfare. This dissertation investigates elements of an approach to the double dividend hypothesis through computable general equilibrium models. Some of these models conclude that, in the presence of fiscal deductions, the double dividend hypothesis is plausible. Since in the Portuguese tax system there are deductions to taxable personal income, in this dissertation one model of this type proposed by Parry and Bento (2000) is specified with parameters adequate to the Portuguese economy in order to examine the plausibility of the double dividend hypothesis in this context. The results are not sufficient to conclude for the plausibility of the double dividend hypothesis. However, they are enough to confirm that this plausibility increases in Portugal if the environmental fiscal reform is implemented by lowering the personal income tax rate, instead of the rate of workers’ contribution to the Social Security. This happens because the presence of deductions to taxable personal income in Portugal for some consumer goods and services reduces the gross costs of environmental taxes by neutralizing the distortions existing in the markets of those tax favoured consumer goods and services.

Date of Award	2011
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Américo Mendes (Supervisor)