A major change of the property tax system in 2011 generated significant variation in the amount of housing taxes paid by Italian households. Using new questions added to the Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW), we exploit this variation to provide an unprecedented analysis of the...

Given that VAT/GST systems are primarily designed for the purchase of goods or services that yield immediate consumption, or consumption over a limited period of time, they do not cope well with goods that are consumed over a long, or indefinite, period. The classic example is a personal...

We quantify the housing-consumption channel in mortgage demand according to which households borrow more following house-price increases since housing and non-housing consumption are imperfect substitutes. To identify this channel, we take a structural approach to mortgage demand and supply,...