Evaluación de escenarios potenciales de diferenciación del IVA para el Ecuador.

Abstract

The value added tax (VAT), a tax by nature regressive, throughout Ecuadorian history has been the one with the highest tax collection. Therefore, its effects have important repercussions on different socio-economic aspects, among which income distribution stands out. In this sense, being able to increase collection without affecting progressivity, or better yet, improving the progression of the fee, is relevant. This study analyzes the capacity of the tax structure of the Ecuadorian VAT, in favor of vertical equity. To analyze VAT as a generator of income for the state, and as a tool for the redistribution of wealth, marginal reform methodologies applied to indirect taxation are used. Under this line, two references are taken: (i) the work of Yitzhaki (1994), which by calculating the Gini Elasticity of Net Income (EGRN) identifies the goods that, by undergoing marginal changes in indirect taxation, can improve the distribution of wealth; and (ii) the work of Ramírez and Oliva (2016) that, with the Kakwani and Reynolds-Smolensky Pseudo-elasticities estimates, manages to quantify the effects of marginal changes in indirect taxation in terms of vertical equity (either in progressivity or income redistribution).