A Wealth Tax on the Rich to Bring down Public Debt?: Revenue and Distributional Effects of a Capital Levy

Stefan Bach (), Martin Beznoska and Viktor Steiner

No 397, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: 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 agenda. We use survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and estimate the net wealth distribution at the very top, based on publicly available information about very rich Germans. Since net wealth is strongly concentrated, the capital levy could raise substantial revenue, even if relatively high personal allowances are granted. We also analyze the compliance and administrative costs of the capital levy.

Keywords: Capital levy; wealth distribution; microsimulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 H22 H24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 p.
Date: 2011
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-pbe, nep-pke and nep-pub
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Related works:
Working Paper: A Wealth Tax on the Rich to Bring down Public Debt?: Revenue and Distributional Effects of a Capital Levy (2011)
Working Paper: A wealth tax on the rich to bring down public debt? Revenue and distributional effects of a capital levy (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp397

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