Taxation and the superrich

Arbeitspapier

This paper addresses the modern optimal tax progressivity literature, which clarifies the key role of the behavioral response to taxation and accounts for the incomes of the superrich being qualitatively different than others. Some may be "superstars", for whom small differences in talent are magnified into much larger earnings differences, while others may work in winner-take-all markets, such that their effort to climb the ladder of success reduces the returns to others. We stress that pivotal tax-rate elasticities are not structural parameters, and will be smaller the broader and less plastic is the tax base and the more effective is the enforcement of tax evasion. For this reason, normative analysis of tax rates should be accompanied by attention to the tax base, with a special focus on capital gains, which comprise a large fraction of the taxable income of the superrich.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Working Paper ; No. 337

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Taxation and Subsidies: Efficiency; Optimal Taxation ; Tax Evasion and Avoidance
• Subject: superrich ; tax systems ; superstars ; winner-take-all markets ; plasticity of taxable income ; wealth taxes

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Scheuer, Florian ; Slemrod, Joel
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): University of Zurich, Department of Economics
• (where): Zurich
• (when): 2019

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.5167/uzh-174876
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/209730
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET