This thesis consists of five self-contained essays. Essay 1. (with Sören Blomquist and Luca Micheletto)  Using a calibrated overlapping-generations model we quantify the welfare gains of an age-dependent labor income tax. Agents face uncertainty regarding future abilities and can transfer consumption across periods through savings. The welfare gain of switching from an age-independent to an age-dependent nonlinear tax varies between 2.4% and 4% of GDP. Part of the welfare gain is due to capital accumulation effects and part descends from relaxing incentive-compatibility constraints. The welfare gain is of about the same magnitude as the welfare gain that can be achieved by moving from a linear- to a nonlinear labor income tax. Finally, the welfare loss from tax-exempting interest income is negligible under an optimal age-dependent labor income tax. Essay 2. (with Sören Blomquist and Luca Micheletto) Previous literature has shown that public provision of private goods can be a welfare-enhancing device in second-best settings where governments pursue redistributive goals. However, three issues have so far been neglected. First, the case for supplementing an optimal nonlinear income tax with public provision of private goods has been made in models where agents differ only in terms of market ability. Second, the magnitude of the welfare gains achievable through public provision schemes has not been assessed. Third, the similarities/differences between public provision schemes and tagging schemes have not been thoroughly analyzed. Our purpose in this paper is therefore threefold: first, to extend previous contributions by incorporating in the theoretical analysis both heterogeneity in market ability and in the need for the publicly provided good; second, to perform numerical simulations to quantify the size of the potential welfare gains achievable by introducing a public provision scheme, and to characterize the conditions under which these welfare gains are sizeable; finally, to compare the welfare gains from public provision with the welfare gains from tagging. Essay 3. (with Sören Blomquist and Luca Micheletto) Subsidized child care is a common phenomenon in both Europe and the United States. In this paper we study the efficiency of some of the most common types of child care subsidies. These are a (refundable) tax credit, tax deductibility and public provision. We evaluate the relative efficiency of these instruments using a quantitative simulation model calibrated to resemble the US economy. In our framework there is a special tax treatment for families with children of child care age, which is based on an assumption that agrees with facts pertaining to actual circumstances in the United States, as well as many other countries. We keep the net tax revenue for this group of tax payers constant, hence the subsidies to child care are paid for by the group itself. It is a commonly held view that in a 'good society' all children should have equal opportunities in life. Many proponents of subsidized childcare argue that one way to move in this direction is to allow all children access to good quality child care. We capture this ideological perspective by using a paternalistic social welfare function which places special emphasis on the quality of child care purchased by households. Using a standard social welfare function we find tax deductibility to be the most efficient instrument to subsidize child care and public provision the least efficient instrument. These results are completely reversed when using the paternalistic welfare function and when  society has the goal of providing all children with access to good quality child care.  Public provision then becomes the best way to subsidize child care.  An important aspect of public provision is that it is an efficient instrument in raising the quality of child care. Essay 4.  In a recent paper Alesina et al. (2011) construct a model in which different labor supply elasticities for men and women emerge endogenously from intra-household bargaining. In this paper I explore the optimal tax implications of their model in an economy with both singles and couples and inequality across as well as within households. In the model, the welfare of married women can be improved by lowering taxes for single women. However, this benefit must be weighed against the welfare cost of taxing single men and women at different rates. Moreover, if single men earn more than single women, the welfare of married women can alternatively be improved by a gender-neutral tax scheme which taxes singles at a higher rate. Because the government is concerned not only with equalizing utilities within families, but also with the redistribution between high income and low income households, gender-based adjustments in the income tax must be weighed against the welfare consequences of changing the progressivity of the tax system. I find that larger lump-sum transfers to women is always optimal. Interestingly, marginal tax rates, on the other hand, should be lower for women only if the exogenous bargaining power of men is moderate. The welfare gains of gender based taxation are sizable and the welfare gains of having tax instruments which depend on household composition are even larger. Essay 5. (with Håkan Selin) Recent microeconometric studies of taxpayers' responsiveness to taxation have shown that intensive margin labor supply and earnings elasticities typically are modest and sometimes equal to zero. However,a common view is that long-run responses might still be large since micro-estimates are downward biased owing to optimization frictions. In this paper we estimate the taxable income elasticity at a very large kink point of the Swedish tax schedule using the bunching method. During the period of study the change in the log net-of-tax rate reached a maximum value of 45.6%. Interestingly, we obtain a precise elasticity estimate of zero for wage earners at this large kink. The size of the kink allows us to derive tighter bounds on the long-run elasticity than previous studies. If wage earners on average tolerate 1% of their disposable income in optimization costs, the upper bound on the long-run taxable income elasticity is 0.39. We also evaluate the performance of the bunching estimator by performing Monte Carlo simulations.

Made available in DSpace on 2008-05-13T13:16:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-05-10 / Recent advances in dynamic Mirrlees economies have incorporated the treatment of human capital investments as an important dimension of government policy. This paper adds to this literature by considering a two period economy where agents are di erentiated by their preferences for leisure and their productivity, both private information. The fact that productivity is only learnt later in an agent's life introduces uncertainty to agent's savings and human capital choices and makes optimal the use of multi-period tie-ins in the mechanism that characterizes the government policy. We show that optimal policies are often interim ine cient and that the introduction of these ine ciencies may take the form of marginal tax rates on labor income of varying sign and educational policies that include the discouragement of human capital acquisition. With regards to implementation, state-dependent linear taxes implement optimal savings, while human capital policies may require labor income taxes that depend directly on agents' schooling.

This thesis is concerned with inequality, redistribution and taxation, in particular the taxation of labour income and the distribution of wealth. Most of the analysis is focused on Sweden. The thesis consists of four self-contained essays. Essay 1: “Analyzing tax reforms using the Swedish Labour Income Microsimulation Model”. Labour income taxation is a central policy topic because labour income makes up the majority of national income and most taxes are in the end taxes on labour. In order to quantify how behavioural responses of labour income earners affect tax revenue, the Swedish Labour Income Microsimulation Model (SLIMM) is constructed and used to evaluate tax reforms. Elasticities are calibrated to match midpoints of estimates found in the quasiexperimental literature. The simulations indicate that the earned income tax credit has increased employment by 128,000 and has a degree of self-financing of 21 percent. Almost half of the revenue increase from higher municipal tax rates would disappear due to behavioural responses. Tax cuts for the richest fifth of working Swedes are completely self-financing. Essay 2: “The Laffer curve for high incomes”. An expression for the Laffer curve for high incomes is derived, assuming a constant Pareto parameter and elasticity of taxable income. Microsimulations using Swedish population data show that the simulated curve matches the theoretically derived Laffer curve well, suggesting that the analytical expression is not too much of a simplification. A country-level dataset of top effective marginal tax rates and Pareto parameters is assembled. This is used to draw Laffer curves for 27 OECD countries. Revenue-maximizing tax rates and degrees of self-financing for a small tax cut are also computed. The results indicate that degrees of self-financing range between 28 and 195 percent. Five countries have higher tax rates than the peak of the Laffer curve. Essay 3: “Political preferences for redistribution in Sweden” (with Spencer Bastani). We examine preferences for redistribution inherent in Swedish tax policy 1971–2012 using the inverse optimal tax approach. The income distribution is carefully characterized with the help of administrative register data and we employ behavioral elasticities reflecting the perceived distortionary effects of taxation. The revealed social welfare weights are high for non-workers, small for low-income earners, and hump-shaped around the median. At the top, they are always negative, especially so during the high-tax years of the 1970s and ’80s. The weights on non-workers increased sharply in the 1970s, fell drastically in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and have since then increased. Essay 4: “Wealth inequality in Sweden: What can we learn from capitalized income data?” (with Daniel Waldenström). This paper presents new estimates of wealth inequality in Sweden during 2000–2012, linking wealth register data up to 2007 and individually capitalized wealth based on income and property tax registers for the period thereafter when a repeal of the wealth tax stopped the collection of individual wealth statistics. We find that wealth inequality increased after 2007 and that more unequal bank holdings and housing appear to be important drivers. We also evaluate the performance of the capitalization method by contrasting its estimates and their dispersion with observed stocks in register data up to 2007. The goodness-of-fit varies tremendously across assets and we conclude that although capitalized wealth estimates may well approximate overall inequality levels and trends, they are highly sensitive to assumptions and the quality of the underlying data sources.

The thesis is dedicated to the analysis of income taxation of professional sportsmen in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part describes the legal position of a professional sportsman according to lax regulations. The major part of the analysis is focused on personal income tax. The thesis also mentions other taxes which may affect sport activities. The thesis is based on the law valid in the Czech Republic, including the cases law of the Supreme Administrative Court related to the issue of taxation of sportsmen. The practical part compares particular modes of taxation in which the incomes of a professional sportsman may be taxed.

This thesis investigates if the tax rate on dividend income has a significant effect on private consumption expenditure. This is done through a panel study on 36 OECD countries during the period 2000-2019. Regressions using differenced data and several control variables are used. The results are to some extent in line with previous empirical work studying the effects of tax changes on consumption. The results indicate that the taxation of capital income in the form of the overall tax rate on dividend income does not have a significant effect on private consumption expenditure. The theoretical mechanism deemed most likely to be in effect is tax planning since contradictory results are obtained regarding the effects of other tax rates in the form of taxes on labour income and VAT on private consumption expenditure.

Purpose - The paper aims to analyse the perception SMEs in Sweden have of the corporate income tax system's treatment of online data collection. Methodology – This study employs a qualitative research approach in which the authors implemented a deductive phenomenological research approach. The paper incorporates both exploratory and descriptive research methodologies as its primary research approaches. These approaches were deemed most suited by the authors to collect both primary and secondary data tailored to the research objectives. The primary data source consists of semi-structured interviews with six Swedish SMEs, selected through a judgment-based approach. An in-depth investigation of the current literature formed the foundation of the secondary data collection. Findings – The findings suggest that the SMEs studied in this paper address their perceptions of the CITS’s treatment of ODC through (I) Online Data Privacy, (II) Distributional Tax Fairness, (III) Retributive Tax Fairness, (IV) Procedural Tax Fairness, (V) Complexity, (VI) Trust, (VII) Growth Obstruction Practical implications – The practical implications of this study are valuable for policymakers, SMEs and any type of stakeholders interested in the corporate income tax system's treatment of online data collection. This research can help improve the CITS's effectiveness and reduce the compliance burden on SMEs in Sweden. Policymakers can leverage the insights and perceptions of Swedish SMEs to modernize the CITS to the 21st century and implement ODC practices that are most suitable according to the SME’s preferences. SMEs on the other hand can leverage the insights and perceptions of this study to gain a better understanding of the CITS and its treatment on the components of value creation, including ODC practices. External stakeholders can use the study findings to gain an understanding of the field of research and implement it according to their needs, such as through the assistance of SMEs in their ODC practices concerning the CITS. Originality/value – The originality and value of this paper lie in the novel focus on Swedish SMEs' perception of the CITS's treatment of ODC. To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to explore this topic in Sweden, contributing to the literature on the CITS, ODC practices and the treatment of ODC through the CITS. Keywords – Corporate Income Taxation, Corporate Income Taxation System, Tax Perceptions, SMEs, The Slippery Slope Framework, Complexity, Distributional Fairness, Retributive Fairness, Procedural Fairness, Growth, Tax Benefits, Privacy, Punishment, Trust Paper type – Research Paper

The purpose of this study is to analyze the system of personal income taxation in Nigeria, especially with respect to its administration, equity, and effects on efficient resource usage. There have, in the past, been numerous complaints that the personal income tax in Nigeria does not yield enough revenue for the state governments, primarily because of widespread avoidance and evasion of the tax, especially by persons who do not derive income from wages and salaries. This study examines this problem in light of questions as to how the tax evolved, how important it is to state governments, how efficient and equitable it is, what administrative problems it faces, and what reforms can be implemented to best solve existing problems.

This thesis focuses on the factors that have influence on tax burden of self-employed in the Czech Republic. Selected factors are: the way of recording income and expenditure, possibilities of achieving business income individually, in cooperation or through participation in unincorporated association and the amount of profit. The main goal of the thesis is to find the combination of the way of recording income and expenditure and the way of achieving business income that results into the lowest tax burden. The analysis of the tax burden is based on six representative self-employed. This sample of self-employed was created upon real data collected in past 5 years. Tax burden was measured by two indicators -- the ratio of contributions to the tax base and the ratio of contributions to the gross profit.

Šis magistro baigiamasis darbas yra skirtas gyventojų pajamų mokesčio analizei Europos Sąjungoje bei atskirose jos valstybėse narėse. Darbo tikslas – atskleisti gyventojų pajamų mokesčio ypatybes. Gyventojų pajamų apmokestinimas – mokesčių mokėtojų, objektų ir mokėjimo taisyklių nustatymo sistema. Šiame darbe buvo analizuojama Europos Bendrijos kompetencija šio mokesčio srityje, dvigubo apmokestinimo politika Europos Sąjungoje, buvo nustatyta, kad gyventojų apmokestinimo klausimas paliekamas spręsti kiekvienai Europos Sąjungos valstybei narei. Planuojama, kad ir ateityje, kai Europos Sąjunga pasieks dar didesni integracijos lygį, tai bus palikta kiekvienos šalies narės diskrecijai. Gyventojų pajamų mokestis yra vienas svarbiausių mokesčių mūsų valstybėje, kuris yra per didelis daugeliui gyventojų. Šiuo klausimu yra daug diskusijų, kokiomis priemonėmis geriau mažinti šio mokesčio naštą. Daugelyje kitų Europos Sąjungos valstybių narių yra taikomas progresinis gyventojų pajamų apmokestinimas, mokesčio tarifas priklauso nuo mokėtojo kategorijos ir nuo gaunamų pajamų dydžio. Dvigubo pajamų apmokestinimo srityje Europos Sąjungos šalys narės tarpusavyje bei su trečiosiomis šalimis sudaro dvigubo pajamų apmokestinimo išvengimo sutartis, kad gyventojų pajamos nebūtų apmokestinamos du kartus. / The final master‘s paper is dedicated to the analysis of income tax in the European Union and in the Member States. The main task is to study and to explain the features of the income tax. Income taxation – is the system, which establishes the taxpayers, objects and the rules of how to pay the income tax. Herein the competence of the European Union on the income taxation issue was analyzed, as well the double taxation policy in the European Union. It was established that the sphere of the income tax would be left to the Member States, even when the European Union achieves a higher level of integration than at present. The income tax is one of the most important taxes in Lithuania, which is too big according to the income that people receive. And there are a lot of discussions, on how to choose the best way to decrease the burden of the income tax. The tariffs of the income tax are progressive in a lot of European Unions Member States. The amount of taxes that the residents need to pay depends on many things, such as the amount of income, the category of taxpayers. Speaking about the double taxation, the Member States conclude double taxation treaties with each other and with third countries, to avoid the cases, when the income are taxed twice.

Company-taxation policies in the Central and East European New Member States (CEE-NMS) have been frequently characterised as tax-cutting strategies in order to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). On the basis of a survey of six empirical studies a median value of the tax-rate elasticities of FDI of -0.22 in CEE-NMS and mediterranean periphery countries is derived. Yet, these tax-rate elasticities probably suffer from a sort of measurement error bias since these studies entirely rely on the host country Statutory tax rate as measure of tax burden. Building on a thorough criticism of FDI as a measure reflecting multinational activity and the Statutory tax rate as a reliable measure of the effective tax burden, 315 effective average bilateral tax rates (BEATR) are calculated for seven home countries and five CEE-NMS for the period 1996-2004, following the approach of Devereux and Griffith (1998). Since our empirical results show substantial differences in the variability of the host country Statutory tax rates and the BEATRs, it is contended that the latter should be used as explanatory variables in empirical studies. / Series: Discussion Papers SFB International Tax Coordination