Support for progressive taxation: self-interest (rightly understood), ideology, and political sophistication

Abstract

Progressive tax rates are one of the main instruments for redistribution within advanced liberal democracies. In this study, we investigate public support for this policy. In our analysis of a novel question included in the Belgian Electoral Study (2019) we show that left-wing citizens are strongly in favour of this system. Importantly, high levels of political sophistication strengthen the association between ideology and preferences for progressive taxation, while political sophistication weakens the association between income and rejecting progressive tax policies. Support for a flat tax policy follows exactly the opposite pattern. Hence, for a highly sophisticated group apparently there is no conflict between a tax system that might hurt their short-term material interests, and support for a more equal society.