La incidencia distributiva del impuesto a las gasolinas en Chile

This paper analyzes the distributive incidence of gasoline tax in Chile, using the Fifth and Sixth Family Budget Surveys. Incidence is calculated for income and expense distribution so that the potential differences between temporary and permanent income are taken into account. The Suits Index is estimated to measure the progressivity of the tax and confidence intervals are calculated by bootstrapping to make a statistical comparison between changes in incidence and changes in the tax. The results show that the tax is slightly or moderately progressive, but is less progressive in income than in expenses. The simulation of a reduction of nearly 42% in the tax rate, like the one implemented in 2008, reveals that the effect is, in terms of incidence, to reduce the progressivity of the tax minimally.