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Income taxes and the destination of movers to multistate MSAs

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  • Coomes, Paul A.
  • Hoyt, William H.

Abstract

We examine how differences in state income tax rates, as well as other state and local taxes and public service expenditures, influence the choice of state of residence for households (federal tax filers) moving into multistate metropolitan areas (MSAs) using data from the IRS on the migration of taxpayers. MSAs that are on borders provide a spatial discontinuity--discrete differences in state tax rates within a single labor market. These MSAs allow residents to live in one state and work in another state. We find that differences in state income tax rates have a significant impact on the relative rate of migration to the states within an MSA. However, contrary to what would be expected, this impact is only significant in MSAs in which the filing state is based on employment (states without reciprocity) and not for those states in which the filing state is the state of residence (states with reciprocity). In MSAs where states do not have reciprocity agreements, a difference of ten percent in tax rates leads to a 4.1 percent difference in the relative rate of incoming taxpayers. Analogously, we find that a ten percent difference in state tax rates in these MSAs results in a 3.3 percent difference in the rate of tax base inflow (AGI). Our results suggest that one reason that differences in state income taxes appear to have more impact in multistate MSAs without reciprocity is that only relatively large differences in state income tax rates have any impact on migration and these differences are much more pronounced in MSAs without reciprocity.

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File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6WMG-4PG86Y4-1/2/69e9b25136a145cb9d303f43362a6ebb
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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Urban Economics.

Volume (Year): 63 (2008)
Issue (Month): 3 (May)
Pages: 920-937

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Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:63:y:2008:i:3:p:920-937

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622905

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  1. Sandra E. Black, 1997. "Do better schools matter? Parental valuation of elementary education," Research Paper 9729, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
  2. Jon Bakija & Joel Slemrod, 2004. "Do the Rich Flee from High State Taxes? Evidence from Federal Estate Tax Returns," NBER Working Papers 10645, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  3. Daniel Feenberg & Elisabeth Coutts, 1993. "An introduction to the TAXSIM model," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 189-194.
  4. repec:sae:pubfin:v:32:y:2004:i:3:p:292-312 is not listed on IDEAS
  5. Conway, Karen Smith & Houtenville, Andrew J, 1998. " Do the Elderly "Vote with Their Feet"?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 97(4), pages 663-85, December.
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Cited by:
  1. Ken Sanford & William Hoyt, 2009. "Is the Grass Greener on the Other Side of the River?: The Choice of Where to Work and Where to Live for Movers," Working Papers 2009-05, University of Kentucky, Institute for Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations.
  2. Laurence J. Kotlikoff & Bernd Raffelhüeschen & Christian D. Hagist, 2009. "How regional differences in taxes and public goods distort life cycle location choices," Hacienda Pública Española, IEF, vol. 189(2), pages 47-79, June.
  3. Jonathan C. Rork & Gary A. Wagner, 2009. "Reciprocity and Competition: Is There a Connection?," Working Papers 2009/1, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

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