FOREIGN INSTRUMENTS OF FISCAL REGULATION OF INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY AS A REFERENCE POINT FOR UKRAINE'S TAX POLICY

Abstract

The article examines foreign instruments of fiscal regulation of income and wealth inequality and outlines the opportunities for taking them into account in the tax policy of Ukraine. The relevance of the topic stems from the considerable stratification of Ukrainian society by the level of income and property, which deepens under the conditions of a full-scale war, as well as from the need to adapt the national fiscal system to the standards of the European Union in the context of Ukraine acquiring the status of a candidate state. The aim of the study is to verify the formulated fiscal imperatives of inequality reduction against sound world practice and to substantiate the directions for reforming the domestic tax instruments. The level of the minimum wage as a basic social standard is analysed across EU member states and candidate countries, where Ukraine has the lowest statutory indicator. The average and top statutory rates of personal income tax in OECD countries are considered, which confirms the prevalence of progressive scales of taxation of citizens' incomes and the existence of a tax-free minimum. Particular attention is paid to inheritance and gift taxation, differentiated value added tax rates, the net wealth tax and the level of liability for violations of tax legislation using the example of the United States. Based on the comparison, the article substantiates the expediency of introducing in Ukraine a progressive taxation of personal income with a zero rate at the level of the actual subsistence minimum, differentiation of inheritance tax rates by the degree of kinship, the extension of reduced VAT rates to foodstuffs, and a gradual strengthening of tax control. It is concluded that the mechanisms of world fiscal practice constitute a valuable reference point for shaping Ukraine's own approaches to reducing inequality with regard to the socio-economic situation of the state.