Impact of Tax Relief on Public Finance

Abstract

Abstract Tax reliefs are optional, but a very important element of the taxation system. This element is used for different purposes by a country’s government institutions. Tax reliefs are a form of tax expenditure that helps to reduce budget revenues. Tax reliefs influence individual and corporate financial behaviour and can have positive or negative effects on the economic and social factors. In the last few years, expansion of tax relief has attracted worldwide attention because of the fact that, after the global financial crisis, many countries are still suffering from fiscal deficits, and expansion of tax relief has not contributed to solving this problem. Tax reliefs are presupposed to be a fiscal policy tool of significance in various subsystems of public finances. The main aim of this article is to examine the impact of personal income tax reliefs on Lithuanian public finances. To achieve this aim, statistical information was systemized; Monte Carlo method was used to group data by horizontal rows and logical links analysed, which helped to evaluate the influence of tax reliefs on public finances. In the simulations, the Monte Carlo method helped to simulate random samples, which were then examined by adapting the conclusions of the theory of probability and mathematical statistics methods.