Using new survey and experimental data for a representative sample of the German population, we study preferences for tax simplification. The general wisdom seems to suggest that most tax systems are overly complex and that tax simplification is generally desirable. Consistent with this general...

In this paper, we present a micro estimate determining taxable income as a function of gross income and all major deduction options depending on household and asset categories. It is shown that tax savings strongly increase with increasing income, resulting in a decreasing effective marginal tax...

The German government intends to fix the yearly income tax free subsistence level for a single in 1996 at an amount of 12.000 marks. Own calculations show a minimium of 13.000 marks. They also show that the planned level for the tax allowance for each child of 6.264 marks is sufficient at least...

A large literature has documented top income share series based on income tax statistics using the common methodology established by Piketty (2001, 2003). The disappearance of capital income from the income tax base in many countries poses a major challenge to the comparability of these series...

Generous income support programs as provided by European welfare states have often been blamed to hamper employment. This paper investigates the importance of incentives inherent in the tax-benefit system for the individual decision to take up work. Using German microdata over the period...

What are the effects of austerity on distributional policy? We exploit the autonomy of Italian municipalities in setting non-linear income taxes and the exogenous introduction of a fiscal rule to show that austerity increases income tax progressivity. Consistent with this evidence, we find that...

We study reforms of non-linear income tax systems from a political economy perspective. We present a median voter theorem for monotonic tax reforms, reforms so that the change in the tax burden is a monotonic function of income. We also provide an empirical analysis of tax reforms, with a focus...