How should pensions be taxed? In many cases pension savings are usually taxed more leniently than other forms of savings. What is the rationale for this? And are those concerns best targeted via taxation or mandatory pension savings? These issues are discussed with outset in the experience of...

Judd's (1985) finding that the optimal long-run rate of tax on capital is zero—even if equity is an important social objective—has exerted substantial influence in academic and policy circles over the last quarter century. Only very recently has it become clear that Judd's zero-tax result...

In the economic literature the fiscal burden on financial claims is usually measured by the expected tax rate. Auerbach has demonstrated that the use of this method can be seriously misleading. This paper develops a method for defining an effective tax rate adjusted for risk on uncertain...