IMF TaxFit Model Methodology and User Guidebook
Technical Notes and Manuals, May 5, 2025
Source details
- Canonical URL
- IMF TaxFit Model Methodology and User Guidebook
Other formats
Bibliographic details
- Authors: Julia Cots-Capell, Aieshwarya Davis, Duncan MacDonald
- Published: May 5, 2025
- Series: Technical Notes and Manuals
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229000987.005
Overview
- Authors: Julia Cots-Capell, Aieshwarya Davis, Duncan MacDonald
- Date: May 5, 2025
- Series: Technical Notes and Manuals No. 2025/008
- Summary of purpose:
- The TaxFit microsimulation model calculates the taxes payable and benefits receivable by hypothetical households across an expanding list of countries.
- The manual provides a detailed overview of the TaxFit model, explains its underlying assumptions, and offers guidance on using the Stata-based model and its associated online tool.
Model scope and simulated instruments
- Simulated taxes and contributions:
- personal income taxes
- social security contributions for all adults in a household
- Simulated benefits and transfers:
- family benefits
- social assistance
- in-work benefits
- caregiver support
- User-definable household characteristics:
- gross income levels
- family composition
- Intended analytical uses:
- cross-country comparisons of tax burdens and benefit generosity
- assessment of distributional effects of tax and benefit reforms
- estimation of fiscal costs
Data inputs and diagnostics
- Microdata handling:
- When microdata is available, it can be uploaded to generate diagnostic indicators that better reflect the population.
- Diagnostic outputs:
- distributional indicators for assessing reforms
- fiscal cost estimates reflecting uploaded microdata where available
Implementation and tools
- Software environment:
- Stata-based model
- associated online tool for interaction and analysis
- Guidance provided:
- detailed overview of model structure
- explanation of underlying assumptions
- step-by-step user guidance for the Stata implementation and online tool
Subjects and keywords (as listed)
- Subjects:
- Employment, Expenditure, Income, Labor, Maternity and childcare benefit spending, National accounts, Social security contributions, Taxes, Wages
- Keywords:
- Africa, Asia and Pacific, effective tax rates, employment, employment earnings, Europe, function argument, IMF Library, IMF TaxFit model methodology, Income, informal work, Maternity and childcare benefit spending, simulation, social protection, Social security contributions, tax, user guidebook, Wages, work incentives
Content in this bundle
- IMF TaxFit Model Methodology and User Guidebook; April 2025; TNM 2025/08