Оценки доходного неравенства по данным обследования домашних хозяйств и налоговой статистики

This paper presents a methodology for estimating population income distribution and income inequality in Russia based on combining data from a sample survey of household survey and tax data. Tax data are used to adjust income distribution at the top where, since it better reflects incomes of the wealthiest strata than survey. We use data from Rosstat’s Statistical Survey of Population Income (SSIPSP) and tax data aggregated by percentile groups of individual taxpayers. The tax data includes the main components of taxable income: from employment, self-employment and property. Top incomes in SSIPSP are replaced by higher averages from corresponding groups of taxpayers taking into account the region of residence. It allows us to derive more accurate characteristics of income inequality at the national and regional levels.We present income inequality estimates calculated using the proposed methodology, empirical estimates based on SSIPSP data only and official Rosstat’s estimates. The distinctive characteristics of the current official methodology and the proposed approach, that may explain the differences in the estimates, are discussed. The result of adjusting income distribution in the survey is SSIPSP microdata containing adjusted personal and per capita incomes in households. This makes it possible to estimate income inequality and other characteristics of income distribution for different social strata. We demonstrate examples of calculating estimates of income inequality on the regional level based on SSIPSP on incomes before and after the adjustment by the tax data.