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How Successful is the Dual Income Tax? Evidence from the Finnish Tax Reform of 1993

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  • Jukka Pirttilä
  • Håkan Selin

Abstract

Dual income tax systems have become increasingly popular; yet, relatively little is known about the consequences of implementing such tax systems. This paper uses a representative panel of tax payers from the 1993 Finnish tax reform to measure how overall taxable income and the relative shares of capital income and labour income reacted to the reform. The Finnish tax reform appears to be particularly suitable for analysing the effect of separating labour and capital income tax bases. The reform radically reduced the marginal tax rates on capital income to some, but not all, taxpayers, while the taxation of labour income was not reformed at the same time. We find that the reform led to a small positive impact on overall taxable income, but part of the positive response was probably offset by income shifting among the self-employed.

Suggested Citation

  • Jukka Pirttilä & Håkan Selin, 2006. "How Successful is the Dual Income Tax? Evidence from the Finnish Tax Reform of 1993," Working Papers 223, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    • Handle: RePEc:pst:wpaper:223
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Sullström, Risto & Riihelä, Marja & Suoniemi, Ilpo, 2008. "Tax Progressivity and Recent Evolution of the Finnish Income Inequality," Discussion Papers 460, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    2. Diamond, Peter, 2010. "Taxes and Pensions," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 6, pages 59-74.
    3. Thor O. Thoresen & Annette Alstadsæter, 2010. "Shifts in Organizational Form under a Dual Income Tax System," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 66(4), pages 384-418, December.
    4. Johannes Hermanus Kemp, 2020. "The elasticity of taxable income: New data and estimates for South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-29, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Annette Alstadsæter & Erik Fjærli, 2009. "Neutral taxation of shareholder income? Corporate responses to an announced dividend tax," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 16(4), pages 571-604, August.
    6. Annette Alstadsaeter, 2007. "The Achilles Heel of the Dual Income Tax: The Norwegian Case," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 5-22, Spring.
    7. Ilpo Suoniemi & Juha Rantala, 2010. "Income mobility, persistent inequality and age, recent experiences from Finland," Working Papers 263, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    8. Emmanuel Saez & Joel Slemrod & Seth H. Giertz, 2012. "The Elasticity of Taxable Income with Respect to Marginal Tax Rates: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 3-50, March.
    9. Annette Alstadsæter & Knut Reidar Wangen, 2008. "Corporations’ Choice of Tax Regime when Transition Costs are Small and Income Shifting Potential is Large," CESifo Working Paper Series 2392, CESifo.
    10. Riihelä, Marja, 2009. "Essays on income inequality, poverty and the evolution of top income shares," Research Reports P52, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Riihelä, Marja, 2009. "Essays on income inequality, poverty and the evolution of top income shares," Research Reports 52, VATT Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Taxable income; income shifting; dual tax system;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

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