The Role of Fiscal Mechanism in Regulation of Households’ Investment Activity in EU Countries and in Ukraine

Abstract

The fiscal mechanism, which serves as a means of implementing fiscal policy, thanks to the organisation of fiscal relations by changing the mechanisms for the formation of budget revenues and expenditures, directs the established fiscal interrelationships, manages the channels of passage and directions of fiscal flows, specifies the proportions of the distribution of financial resources and, thus, ensures regulation investment activity of households. For Ukraine, in the context of its European integration aspirations, the study of the impact of the components of the fiscal mechanism, namely taxes, on the implementation of household investments in the EU countries becomes particularly relevant. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to form a holistic view of the elements of the fiscal mechanism that cause changes in investment processes at the micro level in the EU countries and in Ukraine, as well as to perform correlation and regression analysis to identify the quantitative impact of the fiscal mechanism on the investment activity of households. During the study, the Ukrainian and European practices of taxation of the population is considered and the total tax burden on individuals in the EU countries and in Ukraine is calculated. A correlation and regression analysis of the impact of elements of the fiscal mechanism on household investments in the EU and Ukraine was carried out, which showed that the scale of their taxation had the greatest impact on the implementation of citizens' investments, while the overall tax burden played a secondary role in regulating investment processes at the micro level. As a result of the study, it was proved that in Ukraine, to increase the investment activity of households, it is necessary to consider the practices of EU countries and improve those elements of the fiscal mechanism that have the greatest regulatory impact on investment. Such a part of the fiscal mechanism is taxes, especially in terms of effective provision of tax benefits.