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Fiscal Equalization as a Driver of Tax Increases: Empirical Evidence from Germany

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  • Thiess Büttner
  • Manuela Krause

Abstract

This paper exploits a recent devolution of tax setting powers in the German federation to study the effects of fiscal equalization on subnational governments’ tax policy. Based on an analysis of the system of fiscal equalization transfers, we argue that the redistribution of revenues provides incentives for states to raise rather than to lower their tax rates. The empirical analysis exploits differences in fiscal redistribution among the states and over time. Using a comprehensive simulation model, the paper computes the tax-policy incentives faced by each state over the years and explores their empirical effects on tax policy. The results support significant and substantial effects. Facing full equalization a state is predicted to set the tax rate from the real estate transfer tax about 1.3 percentage points higher than without. Our analysis also shows that the incentive to raise tax rates is proliferated by the equalization system because the states’ decisions to raise their tax rates have intensified fiscal redistribution over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Thiess Büttner & Manuela Krause, 2018. "Fiscal Equalization as a Driver of Tax Increases: Empirical Evidence from Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 7260, CESifo.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7260
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    Cited by:

    1. Manuela Krause & Niklas Potrafke, 2020. "The Real Estate Transfer Tax and Government Ideology: Evidence from the German States," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 76(1), pages 100-120.
    2. Christofzik, Désirée I. & Feld, Lars P. & Yeter, Mustafa, 2020. "Heterogeneous price and quantity effects of the real estate transfer tax in Germany," Freiburg Discussion Papers on Constitutional Economics 20/10, Walter Eucken Institut e.V..
    3. Jorge Puig & Alberto Porto, 2022. "On the fiscal behavior of subnational governments. A long-term vision for Argentina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4588, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    4. Nataliia Yaroshevych & Iryna Kondrat & Tetyana Kalaitan, 2024. "The Impact of the Mechanism for Aligning Horizontal Fiscal Imbalances on the Stability of the Financial System," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-17, February.
    5. Jorge Pablo Puig & Alberto Porto, 2021. "On the interaction between own revenues and intergovernmental transfers. Evidence from Argentinean local governments," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4508, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    6. Manuela Krause, 2019. "Empirical essays on fiscal federalism and political economy in Germany," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 84.
    7. Irina Yakovenko, 2020. "Fuzzy Stochastic Automation Model for Decision Support in the Process Inter-Budgetary Regulation," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Bodhisattva Sengupta, 2023. "Regional policy interaction in a federal economy," Indian Economic Review, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 91-103, June.
    9. Boysen-Hogrefe, Jens & Groll, Dominik & Hoffmann, Timo & Jannsen, Nils & Kooths, Stefan & Sonnenberg, Nils & Stamer, Vincent, 2023. "Deutsche Wirtschaft im Frühjahr 2023: Konjunktur fängt sich, Auftriebskräfte eher gering [German economy in spring 2023: Economy is stabilizing but little momentum going forward]," Kieler Konjunkturberichte 101, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Boysen-Hogrefe, Jens, 2023. "Zum Einfluss der Grunderwerbsteuer auf den Wohnungsneubau in Deutschland," Kiel Policy Brief 165, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    11. Krajňák, Michal & Krzikallová, Kateřina & Friedrich, Václav, 2022. "Does political orientation affect economic indicators in the Czech Republic?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 1219-1231.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fiscal equalization; tax autonomy; real estate transfer tax;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

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