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The responsiveness of self-employment income to tax rate changes

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  • Heim, Bradley T.
Abstract
This paper estimates the extent to which self-employment income responds to changes in the net-of-tax share using a panel of tax returns that spans 1987-1996. The results suggest that the elasticity of reported self-employment income to the net-of-tax share is approximately .9, implying a real elasticity (net of any reporting response) of around .4. Estimated elasticities tend to be larger for higher income taxpayers, married males, and females. In addition, the elasticity of self-employment income is considerably larger than the elasticity wage and salary income estimated using the same methodology.

Suggested Citation

  • Heim, Bradley T., 2010. "The responsiveness of self-employment income to tax rate changes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 940-950, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:17:y:2010:i:6:p:940-950
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Kristoffer Berg & Thor O. Thoresen, 2020. "Problematic response margins in the estimation of the elasticity of taxable income," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(3), pages 721-752, June.
    4. Nicole Bosch & Henk-Wim de Boer, 2017. "The Elasticity of Taxable Income for the Self-Employed: Heterogeneity across Reforms and Income Levels," CPB Discussion Paper 354, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    5. Henrekson, Magnus & Sanandaji, Tino, 2016. "Owner-Level Taxes and Business Activity," Foundations and Trends(R) in Entrepreneurship, now publishers, vol. 12(1), pages 1-94, March.
    6. Nicole Bosch & Henk-Wim de Boer, 2017. "The Elasticity of Taxable Income for the Self-Employed: Heterogeneity across Reforms and Income Levels," CPB Discussion Paper 354.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    7. Cerqua, Augusto, 2018. "What happens when the income tax increases?," MPRA Paper 89857, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Elert, Niklas & Henrekson, Magnus & Stenkula, Mikael, 2017. "Institutional Reform for Innovation and Entrepreneurship: An Agenda for Europe," Working Paper Series 1150, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 16 Feb 2017.
    9. Shahar Rotberg & Joseph B. Steinberg, 2024. "Tax Evasion and Capital Taxation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(7), pages 2488-2529.
    10. Augusto Cerqua & Emma Galli, 2020. "Income tax rate increases and heterogeneous taxpayers’ reactions: a spatial regression discontinuity design," Working Papers 17/20, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    11. Dan Andrews & Aida Caldera Sánchez & Åsa Johansson, 2011. "Towards a Better Understanding of the Informal Economy," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 873, OECD Publishing.
    12. Wladislaw Mill & Cornelius Schneider, 2023. "The Bright Side of Tax Evasion," CESifo Working Paper Series 10615, CESifo.
    13. Emily Y. Lin & Patricia K. Tong, 2017. "Married couple work participation and earnings elasticities: evidence from tax data," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(6), pages 997-1025, December.
    14. Bradley Heim & Ithai Lurie, 2014. "Does health reform affect self-employment? Evidence from Massachusetts," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 917-930, December.
    15. DeBacker, Jason & Heim, Bradley T. & Ramnath, Shanthi P. & Ross, Justin M., 2019. "The impact of state taxes on pass-through businesses: Evidence from the 2012 Kansas income tax reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 53-75.

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