The Influence of Financial Knowledge on the Efficiency of Fiscal Policy. The Case of Income Inequality in Lithuania
Volume 4, Issue 1 (2019), pp. 25–34
Pub. online: 4 December 2019
Type: Article
Open Access
Open Access
Published
4 December 2019
4 December 2019
Abstract
The improvement of public finances is an important issue for any country’s development. This content is changing public sector and sustainability of citizens environment; therefore, much attention is paid to the widespread improvement of financial research. In addition, activities may be organized in connection with applicable higher education programs. On the other hand, education in the field of financial management in different countries is interpreted differently. It has become increasingly important that such a discussion does not directly contribute to the overall development of financial education in recent years. One of the possible ways to handle personal finances in various economic conditions may be to change the attitude of students to the knowledge provided by universities. Young people should be supported by financial education included in their study programs. Proper management of these programs helps to improve the educational process and their economic situation. Ultimately, the best way to determine the tax paid by individuals and legal entities could be called their rate of tax burden. However, an ordinary citizen who lives only from the income related to labor relations and has a higher tax burden may be a more important problem.
Another key objective of the paper is to disclose how citizens perceive taxation and public spending. The objective of the paper is to show the impact of the tax incidence in Lithuania during the last decade. Thus, we can consider almost doubled increase in the burden of direct taxes compared with the officially declared average tax burden of the country. Nonetheless, an additional tax burden includes hidden taxes related to payments from the individuals’ total income. On the average, the tax burden for an ordinary worker can be about two-thirds of his/her gross annual income. The perception of the tax burden can lead every citizen of the country to be responsible for all the actions of public servants and budget planning processes. Raising government revenues is often difficult due to the use of the concept of fixed costs for public sector when a person directly pays additional payments for most public sector services. Thus, the confusion of terms is quite constant showing the need for literacy in public finance. In recent years, the accredited tax burden of Lithuania has been more than thirty per cent of the country’s nominal gross domestic product. However, political leaders and experts suggest plans for increasing Lithuania’s tax burden. Besides, there was a critical error concerning contributions to social insurance and compulsory health insurance funds. Fortunately, in 2018, the national budget included social payments in the budget revenues.