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Pension saving responses to anticipated tax changes: Evidence from monthly pension contribution records

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  • Kreiner, Claus Thustrup
  • Leth-Petersen, Søren
  • Skov, Peer Ebbesen

Abstract

A Danish tax reform, passed in May 2009 and taking effect from the beginning of 2010, lowered the marginal tax rate on top bracket taxable income from 63% to 56%. Because contributions to pension accounts are tax deductible, the reform provided an incentive to increase pension contributions before the change in taxation. Using high frequency panel data, we document a temporary increase in pension contributions in the second half of 2009 in response to the anticipated change in taxation, and that this led to an increase in total savings in this period. The response is driven by less than 5% of those affected by the policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kreiner, Claus Thustrup & Leth-Petersen, Søren & Skov, Peer Ebbesen, 2017. "Pension saving responses to anticipated tax changes: Evidence from monthly pension contribution records," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 104-107.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:150:y:2017:i:c:p:104-107
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2016.11.011
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Claus Thustrup Kreiner & Søren Leth-Petersen & Peer Ebbesen Skov, 2016. "Tax Reforms and Intertemporal Shifting of Wage Income: Evidence from Danish Monthly Payroll Records," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(3), pages 233-257, August.
    2. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Søren Leth-Petersen & Torben Heien Nielsen & Tore Olsen, 2014. "Active vs. Passive Decisions and Crowd-Out in Retirement Savings Accounts: Evidence from Denmark," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(3), pages 1141-1219.
    3. Bernheim, B. Douglas, 2002. "Taxation and saving," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 18, pages 1173-1249, Elsevier.
    4. A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), 2002. "Handbook of Public Economics," Handbook of Public Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4.
    5. A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), 2002. "Handbook of Public Economics," Handbook of Public Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 3.
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    Cited by:

    1. Esteban Garcia-Miralles & Jonathan M. Leganza, 2021. "Public Pensions and Private Savings," CEBI working paper series 21-06, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    2. Jakobsen, Katrine Marie & Søgaard, Jakob Egholt, 2022. "Identifying behavioral responses to tax reforms: New insights and a new approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    3. Athiphat Muthitacharoen & Trongwut Burong, 2022. "How do taxpayers respond to tax subsidy for long-term savings? Evidence from Thailand’s tax return data," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(3), pages 726-750, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Pension savings; Tax incentives; High frequency individual data;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H3 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents

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