Behavioral Responses to Wealth Taxes: Evidence from Sweden

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Seim, David
• 署名单位: Stockholm University; Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20150290
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 395-421
• 关键词: taxation; income; returns

摘要

This paper provides an empirical assessment of an annual wealth tax. Using Swedish administrative data, I estimate net-of-tax-rate elasticities of taxable wealth in the range [0.09, 0.27]. Cross-checking self-reported assets against asset data unavailable to the tax agency reveals that around a third of the elasticity estimates are due to underreporting of asset values. Difference-in-difference designs further suggest that the responses reflect evasion and avoidance rather than changes in saving.