scholarly journals The Effect of Increased Tax Rates on Taxable Income and Economic Efficiency: A Preliminary Analysis of the 1993 Tax Rate Increases

10.3386/w5370 ◽  
1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Feldstein ◽  
Daniel Feenberg
2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Creedy ◽  
Norman Gemmell

This article considers the question of whether marginal tax rates (MTRs) in the US income tax system are on the “right” side of their respective Laffer curves. Previous attention has tended to focus specifically on the top MTR. Conceptual expressions for these “revenue-maximizing elasticities of taxable income” (ETI L), based on readily observable tax parameters, are presented for each tax rate in a multi-rate income tax system. Applying these to the US income tax, with its complex effective marginal rate structure, demonstrates that a wide range of revenue-maximizing ETI values can be expected within, and across, tax brackets and for all taxpayers in aggregate. For some significant groups of taxpayers, these revenue-maximizing ETIs appear to be within the range of empirically estimated elasticities.


2012 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Saez ◽  
Joel Slemrod ◽  
Seth H Giertz

This paper critically surveys the large and growing literature estimating the elasticity of taxable income with respect to marginal tax rates using tax return data. First, we provide a theoretical framework showing under what assumptions this elasticity can be used as a sufficient statistic for efficiency and optimal tax analysis. We discuss what other parameters should be estimated when the elasticity is not a sufficient statistic. Second, we discuss conceptually the key issues that arise in the empirical estimation of the elasticity of taxable income using the example of the 1993 top individual income tax rate increase in the United States to illustrate those issues. Third, we provide a critical discussion of selected empirical analyses of the elasticity of taxable income in light of the theoretical and empirical framework we laid out. Finally, we discuss avenues for future research. (JEL H24, H31, J22)


2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Boylan ◽  
Geoffrey B. Sprinkle

In this paper, we report the results of an experiment designed to determine whether the manner in which income is obtained (earned vs. endowed) affects the relation between tax rates and taxpayer compliance. Our experiment consisted of an income phase and a tax-reporting phase. In the income phase, participants were either endowed with $20 or were required to earn $20 by performing a one-hour multiplication exercise. In the tax-reporting phase, participants decided how much of their $20 in income to report on their tax returns. Consistent with prior experimental evidence, we find that when income is endowed, participants respond to a tax rate increase by reporting less taxable income. In contrast, but consistent with economic theory and some archival-empirical evidence, we find that when income is earned, participants respond to a tax rate increase by reporting more taxable income. Collectively, the results suggest that income is not a fungible commodity and that tax-payer responses to changes in policy variables such as the tax rate may depend critically on the amount of time and effort required to generate income. Additionally, our results may help explain differences between the results of taxpayer compliance experiments (which typically endow individuals with income) and archival-empirical studies (which use data that typically include earned income) regarding how changes in the tax rate (and other factors) affect taxpayer compliance decisions.


2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Eaton

This paper uses a series of two-year panels of tax return data to estimate the effects of two sources of tax rate changes on the participation in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). This paper uses a panel logit approach to control for individual specific fixed effects, which may also influence IRA participation behavior. This paper examines participation during the years of open eligibility for IRAs, as well as examining the impact of the 1986 tax reform on participation. A key finding of this paper is that taxpayers' IRA participation decisions are more sensitive to changes in tax rates due to changes in taxable income than to direct changes in the tax tables.


SERIEs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 281-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Almunia ◽  
David Lopez-Rodriguez

Abstract We study how taxable income responds to changes in marginal tax rates, using as a main source of identifying variation three large reforms to the Spanish personal income tax implemented in the period 1999–2014. The most reliable estimates of the elasticity of taxable income (ETI) with respect to the net-of-tax rate for this period are between 0.45 and 0.64. The ETI is about three times larger for self-employed taxpayers than for employees and larger for business income than for labor and capital income. The elasticity of broad income is smaller, between 0.10 and 0.24, while the elasticity of some tax deductions such as the one for private pension contributions exceeds one. Our estimates are similar across a variety of estimation methods and sample restrictions and also robust to potential biases created by mean reversion and heterogeneous income trends.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Devereux ◽  
Li Liu ◽  
Simon Loretz

We estimate the elasticity of corporate taxable income with respect to the statutory corporation tax rate using the population of UK corporation tax returns. We analyze bunching in the distribution of taxable income at kinks in the marginal rate schedule. We decompose this elasticity into an elasticity of total income with respect to the corporation tax rate, and an elasticity of the share of income taken as profit with respect to the difference between the personal and corporate tax rates. This implies a marginal deadweight cost at the £10,000 kink of around 29 percent of tax revenue. (JEL G32, H24, H25, L25)


1984 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Long

Theory suggests that increases in income tax rates induce individuals to make choices that reduce their tax liability. This article documents the growth of “business” losses reported on personal tax returns during 1948–1980. Such losses offset $57 billion of taxable income in 1980 and saved taxpayers an estimated $16 billion.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raj Chetty

Martin Feldstein's (1999) widely used taxable income formula for deadweight loss assumes the marginal social cost of evasion and avoidance equals the tax rate. This condition is likely to be violated in practice for two reasons. First, some of the costs of evasion and avoidance are transfers to other agents. Second, some individuals overestimate the costs of evasion and avoidance. In such situations, excess burden depends on a weighted average of the taxable income and total earned income elasticities, with the weight determined by the resource cost of sheltering income from taxation. This generalized formula implies the efficiency cost of taxing high income individuals is not necessarily large despite evidence that their reported incomes are highly sensitive to marginal tax rates. (JEL H21, H24, H26)


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1297-1314
Author(s):  
T.A. Loginova

Subject. This article discusses the issues related to the taxation for multi-component complex ores and commercial components using ad valorem and specific mineral extraction tax (MET) rates. Objectives. The article aims to assess some results of the application of specific MET rates in the Krasnoyarsk Krai and ad valorem rates in other subjects of the Russian Federation, taking into account the specifics of the current taxation procedure for multi-component complex ores and their commercial components. Methods. For the study, I used a comparative analysis, synthesis, and the method of extrapolation. Results. The article shows that the change in the type of MET rate for multi-component complex ores and commercial components has led to a significant increase in the effective tax rate. This led to an increase in the corresponding MET revenues in the Krasnoyarsk Krai. The article also substantiates that the introduction of specific rates in other Russian regions requires a significant differentiation of specific MET rates. However, this is risk-bearing concerning unfair distribution of the tax burden and the complexity of tax administration. Conclusions. The issue of identifying multi-component complex ores and their commercial components is controversial. Extending specific MET rates to other regions may complicate the mechanism of rent extraction.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document