Arbeitspapier

Wealth Transfers and Tax Planning: Evidence for the German Bequest Tax

The rising importance of bequests as a source of personal income lead to renewed interest in the taxation of wealth transfers. Empirical evidence on distortionary effects of bequest taxation is relatively scarce. On the basis of administrative data for Germany, this paper assesses the extent to which taxable bequests are targeted to the tax code. I investigate bunching at discrete jumps in the marginal tax rate. While there is evidence for tax planning in case of inter-vivo gifts, inheritances do not exhibit bunching. Further heterogeneity analyses demonstrate that tax planning is highest for gifts between close relatives. While the overall tax base responsiveness is rather low, the findings suggest that bequest tax planning almost exclusively occurs for donors rather than recipients of wealth transfers. Beyond, tax planning is more prevalent for close relatives and large estates.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 11120

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡
Tax Evasion and Avoidance
Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household
Thema
bequest tax
tax planning
bunching
administrative data

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Sommer, Eric
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
(wo)
Bonn
(wann)
2017

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:42 MEZ

Datenpartner

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Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Sommer, Eric
  • Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Entstanden

  • 2017

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