We analyze the distribution and taxation of top incomes in Germany during the 1990s on the basis of individual tax returns data. We derive a measure of economic income from taxable gross income as reported in the tax returns. Thanks to complete sampling, we can deliver a very precise description...

The idea of higher wealth taxes to finance the mounting public debt in the wake of the financial crises is gaining ground in several OECD countries. We evaluate the revenue and distributional effects of a one-time capital levy on personal net wealth that is currently on the German political...

Bei steigender Einkommensungleichheit und verringerten Steuervermeidungsmöglichkeiten ergeben die Standardmodelle der Optimalsteuerlehre höhere optimale Steuersätze auf hohe Einkommen. Ferner diskutiert die Forschung in der letzten Zeit verstärkt die negativen Wirkungen steigender...

We analyze the top tail of the wealth distribution in Germany, France, Spain, and Greece based on the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). Since top wealth is likely to be underrepresented in household surveys we integrate the big fortunes from rich lists, estimate a Pareto...