This paper shows that a Value Added Tax (VAT) with multiple tax rates in Italy is not the most effective way to pursue redistributive aims. As the tax revenue of the Italian VAT is significantly affected by the use of reduced tax rates and exemptions, we suggest that a shift to a uniform VAT coupled with cash transfers to households with children might better achieve redistributive targets. This outcome is also robust to alternative ways of targeting cash transfers to the poorest households. We also show that a uniform VAT with cash transfers, from a distributive point of view, is preferred to the extensive use of the zero rate on specific goods and services. Further improvement in the distributional results could even be achieved by considering that a uniform VAT may significantly reduce VAT evasion due to the difference of tax rates applied to the intermediate stages.

本文表明，在意大利采用多种税率的增值税 (VAT) 并不是实现再分配目标的最有效方式。由于意大利增值税的税收收入受到使用降低税率和免税的显着影响，我们建议转向统一增值税并向有子女的家庭转移现金可能会更好地实现再分配目标。这一结果也适用于将现金转移到最贫困家庭的替代方法。我们还表明，从分配的角度来看，统一的现金转移增值税优于对特定商品和服务广泛使用零税率。