We apply a standard tax and benefit incidence analysis to estimate the impact on inequality and poverty of direct taxes … extent of inequality reduction induced by direct taxes and transfers is rather small (2 percentage points on average … and Brazil from achieving similar reductions in inequality is not the lack of revenues but the fact that they spend less …

comparable methodology yields the following results. Direct taxes and cash transfers reduce inequality and poverty by nontrivial … at government costs, they reduce inequality in all countries by considerably more than cash transfers, reflecting their …