Replication Data for: Public Preferences over Changes to the Composition of Government Tax Revenue

How governments raise tax revenue is at the core of domestic political conflict. Public opinion towards taxation is measured generally and qualitatively by many surveys, but previous research has not closely linked public preferences to the budget problem faced by governments of how best to raise or cut a marginal quantity of revenue. We present results from a novel tax preference experiment in which UK respondents are given choices over different tax ‘levers’ that are expected to raise or cut equal revenue. We find that while different tax levers vary substantially in their popularity, there is a ‘hidden consensus’ regarding different tax levers across income levels and partisanship of respondents.

政府如何筹集税收收入，是国内政治冲突的核心议题。尽管诸多调查已从一般性与定性层面衡量了公众对税收的态度，但既往研究并未将公众偏好与政府面临的「如何最优增减边际额度财政收入」的预算难题紧密关联起来。本研究呈现了一项新颖税收偏好实验的结果：实验中英国受试者需在不同税收杠杆间做出选择，且各杠杆预计可筹集或削减等额财政收入。研究发现，尽管不同税收杠杆的受欢迎程度差异显著，但在不同收入水平与受访者党派立场群体中，针对各类税收杠杆竟存在「隐藏共识」。