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Inattention to Deferred Increases in Tax Bases: How Michigan Home Buyers Are Paying for Assessment Limits

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  • Sebastien Bradley

    (Drexel University)

Abstract

Michigan’s implementation of assessment limits gives rise to a wide variation in taxable basis across comparable homes. Exploiting the fact that the resulting differences in property tax liability are temporarily inherited by new homebuyers, I estimate the degree of capitalization of these largely idiosyncratic tax differences to evaluate whether homebuyers understand the tax implications of their home purchases. Consistent with anecdotal evidence but in stark contrast to the traditional view of rational consumer behavior, I find that homebuyers are woefully inattentive to the temporary nature of their initial tax obligations, resulting in an overpayment of nearly $10,000 for the average home.

Suggested Citation

  • Sebastien Bradley, 2017. "Inattention to Deferred Increases in Tax Bases: How Michigan Home Buyers Are Paying for Assessment Limits," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(1), pages 53-66, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:99:y:2017:i:1:p:53-66
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    Cited by:

    1. repec:cty:dpaper:(18/06 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Isaiah Hull & Anna Grodecka-Messi, 2022. "Measuring the Impact of Taxes and Public Services on Property Values: A Double Machine Learning Approach," Papers 2203.14751, arXiv.org.
    3. Justin Birru & Fernando Chague, Rodrigo De-Losso, Bruno Giovannetti, 2019. "Attention and Biases: Evidence from Tax-Inattentive Investors," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2019_48, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    4. Hans R.A. Koster & Edward W. Pinchbeck, 2022. "How Do Households Value the Future? Evidence from Property Taxes," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 207-239, February.
    5. Giertz, Seth H. & Ramezani, Rasoul & Beron, Kurt J., 2021. "Property tax capitalization, a case study of Dallas County," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Bengali, Leila, 2022. "Assessing evidence for inattention to the costs of homeownership," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    7. Bradley, Sebastien, 2018. "Assessment limits and timing of real estate transactions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 360-372.
    8. Löffler, Max & Siegloch, Sebastian, 2015. "Property Taxation, Local Labor Markets and Rental Housing," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112967, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Sebastien Bradley & Naomi E. Feldman, 2020. "Hidden Baggage: Behavioral Responses to Changes in Airline Ticket Tax Disclosure," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 58-87, November.
    10. Elinder, Mikael & Persson, Lovisa, 2017. "House price responses to a national property tax reform," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 18-39.
    11. Bigelow, Daniel P. & Kuethe, Todd H., 2020. "The impact of preferential farmland taxation on local public finances," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304291, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Jonah Coste, 2024. "Capitalization of Property Tax Incentives: Evidence From Philadelphia," FHFA Staff Working Papers 24-01, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
    13. Livy, Mitchell R., 2018. "Intra-school district capitalization of property tax rates," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 227-236.
    14. Susana Peralta & João Pereira dos Santos & Duarte Gonçalves, 2020. "Do short-term rentals increase housing prices? Quasi-experimental evidence from Lisbon," GEE Papers 0155, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised Jul 2020.
    15. Wolf, David & Takeuchi, Kenji, 2022. "Holding back the storm: Dam capitalization in residential and commercial property values," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    16. Georgic, Will & Klaiber, H. Allen, 2022. "Stocks, flows, and flood insurance: A nationwide analysis of the capitalized impact of annual premium discounts on housing values," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    17. David Wolf & Kenji Takeuchi, 2022. "Who Gives a Dam? Capitalization of Flood Protection in Fukuoka, Japan," Discussion Papers 2203, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    18. Gonçalves, Duarte & Peralta, Susana & Pereira dos Santos, João, 2022. "Short-Term Rental Bans and Housing Prices: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Lisbon," IZA Discussion Papers 15706, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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