The Economic Aspects of Family Taxation

One of the strands considered in the economics of taxation is the issues of the effect of taxes on the decisions made by families as a result of adopting certain tax solutions. This issue, considered from an economic point of view, focuses on three interrelated effects: the impact of taxes on the fertility of families, on the decision to marry or dissolve, and the impact of taxation on family members taking up taxed paid work. It should be noted that this approach is not very common in the current discussion in Poland on the introduction of pro-family tax solutions, which has been dominated by arguments of equity nature or by the assessment of the costs of such a policy for the state budget. The aim of this article is to present the general conclusions of studies conducted abroad on the impact of taxes on decisions made by families and to indicate the possibility of verifying their veracity on the domestic ground, assuming the application of current family taxation structures. This would make it possible to assess the possible impact of proposed family-friendly tax measures on strengthening the family and increasing the number of children. The analysis will refer to personal income tax, although it is generally considered that wealth taxes may also have some impact on the decisions made by families. However, due to their minor financial importance for family budgets and their incidental nature, they will not be considered here. In line with the division presented, the following sections will present in turn: the impact of taxation on childbearing decisions (section 1.), family permanence and formation (section 2.) and the labour force participation of family members (section 3.). The final section is devoted to a general reference to the pro-family concepts presented. Each of the following sections consists of conclusions and results obtained by other researchers, the methods used and, finally, proposals for verification on the Polish ground.