Till Taxes Keep Us Apart? The Impact of the Marriage Tax on the Marriage Rate

Arbeitspapier

Married couples often face a different tax burden than cohabitating couples with the same income. I study the effect of joint income taxation of married couples on the marriage rate in Switzerland, where tax differentials between married and cohabitating couples vary considerably across cantons. I construct a dataset containing sociodemographic and -economic variables on every individual living in Switzerland, and use household-level information to identify cohabitating couples. Using a simulated instrumental variable approach, I find a negative impact of joint income taxation on the marriage rate for couples married between 2012 and 2019. The effect is driven by households without children and from the lower end of the income distribution.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 9747

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes ; Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
• Subject: income taxation ; marriage penalty ; taxation of married couples

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Myohl, Nadia
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
• (where): Munich
• (when): 2022

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/260877
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET