The Impact of Tax Policies on Gender Equality: The Italian Experience

Abstract

Although tax policies are often not the best way to correct gender discrimination, they can contribute to limiting social inequalities and promoting substantive equality between men and women so as to foster greater equity and achieve economic growth and sustainable development. Gender-based taxation could thus become one of the tools to overcome differences between individuals of different sexes, achieving a balanced distribution of family tasks within the couple. In order to reduce the gender gap, a form of tax support to the secondary earner could be a reasonable equitable solution. Focusing on the Italian perspective, this essay aims at verifying whether and to what extent it is possible to introduce tax measures based on the principle of gender equality within the limits imposed by the domestic tax system.