The Taxable Income Elasticity of High-Income Taxpayers: Evidence from a Long Panel

Author(s):  
Gerald Auten ◽  
David Joulfaian
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry C. Edeh

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of poverty and inequality reduction through redistribution have indeed become critical concerns in many low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria. Although redistribution results from the effect of tax revenue collections, micro household-level empirical analyses of the distributional effect of personal income tax (PIT) and value added tax (VAT) reforms in Nigeria have been scarcely carried out. This study for the first time quantitatively assessed both the equity and redistributive effects of PIT and VAT across different reform scenarios in Nigeria. Data used in this study was mainly drawn from the most recent large scale nationally representative Nigeria Living Standard Survey, conducted in 2018/2019. The Kakwani Index was used to calculate and compare the progressivity of PIT and VAT reforms. A simple static micro-simulation model was employed in assessing the redistributive effect of PIT and VAT reforms in the country. After informality has been accounted for, the PIT was found to be progressive in the pre- 2011 tax scheme, but turned regressive in the post-2011 tax scheme. It was also discovered that the newly introduced lump sum relief allowance in the post-2011 PIT scheme accrues more to the high-income than to the low-income taxpayers – confirming the regressivity of the current PIT scheme. However, the study further shows (through counterfactual simulations) that excluding the relatively high-income taxpayers from sharing in the variable part of the lump sum relief allowance makes PIT progressive in the post-2011 scheme. The VAT was uncovered to be regressive both in the pre-2020 scheme, and in the current VAT reform scheme. Further, after putting informality into consideration, the PIT was found to marginally reduce inequality but increase poverty in the pre-2011 scheme. The post-2011 PIT scheme reduced inequality and increased poverty, but by a smaller proportion – confirming a limited redistribution mainly resulting from the concentration of the lump sum relief allowance at the top of the distribution. However, if the variable part of the lump sum relief allowance is provided for ‘only’ the low-income taxpayers below a predefined income threshold, the post-2011 PIT scheme becomes largely redistributive. VAT was uncovered to marginally increase inequality and poverty in the pre-2020 scheme. Though the current VAT scheme slightly increased inequality, it considerably increased poverty in the country. It is therefore suggested that a better tax reform, with well-regulated relief allowance and differentiated VAT rates, will help to enhance the equity and redistribution capacity of the Nigeria tax system.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sören Blomquist ◽  
Whitney Newey ◽  
Anil Kumar ◽  
Che-Yuan Liang

Author(s):  
Christian Gillitzer ◽  
Joel Slemrod

Abstract In an influential article, Raj Chetty (2009, “Is the Taxable Income Elasticity Sufficient to Calculate Deadweight Loss? The Implications of Evasion and Avoidance.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 1 (2):31–52) argues that in the presence of tax evasion the elasticity of taxable income (ETI) is no longer a sufficient statistic for the marginal efficiency cost of funds (MECF). We show that, under Chetty’s (2009, “Is the Taxable Income Elasticity Sufficient to Calculate Deadweight Loss? The Implications of Evasion and Avoidance.” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 1 (2):31–52) risk-neutrality assumption, correctly measuring the standard MECF only requires adding detected evasion inclusive of penalties. In the more general case of risk aversion, it further requires amending the formula to address the private risk-bearing cost of tax evasion.


2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 107-116
Author(s):  
N. B. Frolovа

Essential components of D. Trump’s tax reform and its impact on the income distribution and economic growth in U.S. are investigated. The analysis covers innovations in the system of income taxation of citizens (tax rate on income of physical persons, change in the composition of itemized and standard deductions from the taxable income, the alternative minimum income tax, limitations on the inheritance tax, and change in the mode of taxation of pass-through income). The essence of the trickle-down economic theory is explicated, with emphasizing its central role in tax policy development in the USA, which caused occurrence of common features specific to tax reforms over the last 40 years. The considerable attention is paid in this context to the experience of tax reform introduced by R. Reagan (1986); its comparative analysis with the tax reform of D. Trump shows that with respect to income taxation both are intended to provide incentives to business and reduce tax burden on the high income population strata. However, assessment of Reagan’s tax reform consequences shows that concentration of capital at the hands of businesses and high income population strata not only failed to increase employment and income, but aggravated the social and economic problems in the country, caused by revenue reduction in the American budget, the growing public debt and the enhanced social inequality in the American society. This gave experts grounds to expect an occurrence of the analogous scenario in the result of D. Trump’s tax reform. The article gives a series of short-term and medium-term projected estimates of international experts for budget losses and change in the structure of the population (household) income in US. Innovations in the system of income taxation of U.S. citizens are investigated by the results of analysis of legal norms concerning changes in the scale of tax rates and in the system of deductions from the taxable income. A number of critical comments are given about the income tax policy, based on summing up strong and weak points of the trickle-down economic theory. The most essential of them is that the policy granting more beneficial tax preferences to the well-off population strata, with their negative effects for the vertical justice of the tax burden distribution, contradicts to the ability-to-pay tax principle. Recommendations on potential testing of selected innovations on line of the taxation reform in Ukraine are given using results of the analysis.


KEBERLANJUTAN ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1192
Author(s):  
Arif Nugrahanto

AbstractThe responses of taxpayers due to the changes in tax rates have attracted the curiosity of many economists. The magnitude of taxpayers’ responses is substantially considered to be very importance in the formulation of tax and transfer policy (Giertz, 2009). The fundamental analysis on how to see the respond of taxpayers due to any changes in tax rates uses elasticity of labor supply, which estimates the changes of working hours with respect to the changes in tax rates. Because people’s response to a tax change may take several forms, including a labor supply response, elasticity of labor supply must be read carefully, as pertaining only to specific circumstances. Then, the elasticity of taxable income, which was originated by Lindsey (1986), is used and introduced to overcome such restrictions.Using very rich panel data of Indonesian taxpayers from 2007 to 2010, this study generates numerous findings about the elasticity of taxable income. The extent of taxpayers’ response deeply depends on how the secular trend of income is isolated and controlled. Without income control, the elasticity of taxable income is 0.289, while using a 10-spline of log of income, the extent is 0.368. Moreover, the study also uses net income as complement of the core estimation. This study identifies that the elasticity of taxable income in Indonesia is in the range of 0.302-0.368 depending on the income definition applied. The findings confirm with most literature on this subject and closely near to what was specified by Saez, et. al (2010) as “a consensus value.” But it should be underlined that these magnitudes are just in the short run period. This also found that the short run and medium period produce varying magnitudes. The medium run period calculation generates the number of close to zero. It might be due to the existence of income shifting, as stated by Goolsbee (2000). Another argument is myopic phenomenon. As taxpayers only focus on the situation that just happen surroundings them.The difference in the effect highpoints what Slemrod (2001) said that the magnitude of reported income elasticity is not an unchanged parameter; indeed, it is subject to government policy. Moreover, the surroundings of the tax reform and after all may also have influences.  


2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 935-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Auten ◽  
David Splinter ◽  
Susan Nelson

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
Tchai Tavor ◽  
Limor D. Gonen ◽  
Michal Weber ◽  
Uriel Spiegel

Baumol developed an equation of demand for money for the transaction motive. It is affected positively by cost per withdrawal and negatively by the interest loss resulting from holding cash. The present paper suggests modifying the basic and simplified Baumol approach by adding another element to the transaction equation. Availability of cash encourages spontaneous purchases resulting in customer losses. Through cost minimization with respect to three elements instead of two as in the original Baumol equation, a new modified Baumol equation was created. It is examined by using an empirical data set and the results support the modified version of the Baumol equation. Customers respond positively to cash availability when they spend more on luxury goods. This is prominent especially among unmarried and most likely young customers. Due to high-income elasticity, spontaneous purchasing is higher among wealthier customers and full-time workers who maintain a steady and secure employment position. Since such customers have a weakness for spontaneously and sometimes even carelessly buying luxury items, from their point of view they create a good and efficient buffer by decreasing the available cash in hand and thereby reducing or possibly even preventing their wasteful behavior. The new version is robust and statistically more significant than the original equation presented in 1952.


2020 ◽  
pp. 004728752090770
Author(s):  
Aon Waqas-Awan ◽  
Jaume Rosselló-Nadal ◽  
Maria Santana-Gallego

This study aims to investigate the role of personal income in the income elasticity of tourism demand and, more specifically, the hypothesis that the richest and poorest individuals both tend to react less to changes in income than middle-class individuals, who tend to be more sensitive. To that end, this study applies different strategies within the context of a gravity model, using yearly data from 1995 to 2016 and bilateral tourism flows between 192 countries. Results show that income elasticity is determined to a significant extent by per capita income in the origin country and they confirm the inverted-U relationship between income elasticity and personal income. The study indicates that middle-income countries are more elastic than low- and high-income ones, while high-income countries display an inelastic or nonsignificant relationship.


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