Coalition formation in tax fairness judgements by combined income–asset status in the context of South Korea

Abstract This study uses latent class analysis to map the structure of tax-burden perceptions across income strata and to test whether combined income–asset status gives rise to coalition patterns. Based on Korean panel data, respondents are classified into upper, middle and lower groups by joint income–asset deciles. Five latent classes emerge, and multinomial logistic models show that membership probabilities differ systematically between those above and below the middle-income/middle-asset reference group, reflecting distinct coalition alignments. Notably, support for welfare-financing tax increases is driven more strongly by membership in progressive perception classes than by income or assets alone; moreover, this multilevel coalition structure – spanning different income-asset combinations – reveals that asset holdings, particularly illiquid assets, play a crucial role in shaping tax fairness judgements beyond income considerations. These findings underscore the necessity of tax policies tailored to both income and asset dimensions.