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...

We exploit an exhaustive administrative dataset that includes the individual tax returns of all households in the top percentile of the income distribution in Germany to pin down the effective income taxation of households with very high incomes. Taking tax base erosion into account, we find...

This paper provides formulas for optimal top marginal tax rates when couples are taxed according to income splitting between spouses, consumption is taxed, and the skill distribution is unbounded. Optimal top marginal income tax rates are computed for Germany using a dataset that includes the...

In this study we analyze the top tail of the wealth distribution in Germany and France 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...

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...

Compared to the rest of Europe, Germany exhibits an especially high concentration of wealth. According to estimates based on a microsimulation model, a German wealth tax could generate an estimated ten to 20 billion euros per year in revenue-even with high tax allowances-and slightly reduce the...

Every year in Germany, an estimated 200 to 300 billion euros is gifted or inherited. Due to the extremely unequal distribution of wealth, these capital transfers are also highly concentrated. Approximately half of all transfers are less worth than 50,000 euros. Transfers of over 500,000 euros...

In Deutschland werden jedes Jahr schätzungsweise 200 bis 300 Milliarden Euro vererbt oder verschenkt. Aufgrund der sehr ungleichen Vermögensverteilung sind diese Vermögenstransfers ähnlich stark konzentriert. Etwa die Hälfte der Transfers liegt unter 50 000 Euro. Transfers über 500 000...

Die Vermögenskonzentration in Deutschland ist im internationalen Vergleich besonders hoch. Daher könnte eine Vermögensteuer auch bei hohen Freibeträgen ein Aufkommen von schätzungsweise zehn bis 20 Milliarden Euro im Jahr erzielen. Das zeigen die vorliegenden Schätzungen auf der Basis...

Wenn hohe Vermögen stärker besteuert werden sollen, spricht vieles für eine effektivere Erbschaftsteuer. Dazu sollten die weitgehenden Steuerbefreiungen für Unternehmensübertragungen und weitere Steuervergünstigungen beseitigt werden. Dadurch ließe sich auch bei moderaten Steuersätzen...