The Influence of Personal Allowance on Financial Situation of Households and on Public Finance

Abstract

The amount of tax-free personal allowance is one of the most significant parameters of income tax system in Poland. It has been equal PLN 3,089 unchanged since 2008 until 2016. The Constitutional Tribunal predicated that the regulation of the act on PIT specifying the amount of personal allowance violates the article 2 and the article 84 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland as regards the lack of facility to provide a mechanism adjusting the amount of tax reduction, that would guarantee at least the minimum subsistence. At present its level is specified at the level of more than twofold personal allowance. Therefore, the tax system must be amended. This paper aims at a statistical comparative analysis of gains and losses expected for budgets of both taxpayers and government under prospective various tax systems scenarios. The statistical analysis considers fundamental characteristics of a tax system, i.e. average and marginal tax rates, and tax progression.