Die Effekte einer Lohnnebenkostensenkung für die Volkswirtschaft und die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit

The tax and social contribution ratio in Austria is very high by European standards, taxes on income in particular. This is reflected in a very wide tax wedge between labour costs and net income. The particularly high inflation in Austria in recent years has led to high wage increases and a loss of competitiveness. Based on a model analysis, it is shown that a reduction of taxes on the wage-sum by 1.4 % of GDP dampens the development of wage costs and increases employment by around 0.9 % or 40,000 persons. In addition, the reform reduces the GDP deflator by 0.9 to 0.7 percentage points and implies an increase in the real export volume by 1.4 % in the first three years.