IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/iaecre/v24y2018i3d10.1007_s11294-018-9696-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Tax Expenditures of Individuals Only a Tool of Tax Optimisation?

Author

Listed:
  • Pavlína Kirschnerová

    (Silesian University in Opava)

  • Jana Janoušková

    (Silesian University in Opava)

Abstract

The paper focuses on tax expenditures of individuals, which are one of the fiscal tools of the state. In the Czech Republic they are primarily aimed at housing policy, pension policy, and philanthropy, and the question is the extent to which tax expenditures can influence the preferences of tax payers. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of tax expenditures of individuals in the form of tax deductions for social policy, housing support and retirement savings. We also evaluate whether these tax deductions fulfill the fiscal functions for which they were introduced and the extent to which taxpayers use them. Methodically, the research is based on the analysis of secondary statistical data of the Financial Administration of the Czech Republic and results from aggregated tax returns filed for the period 2005–2015. The effect of tax deductions was decreased by abolition of the progressive rate of personal income taxes and by introduction of a uniform tax rate of 15%. Tax deductions for retirement savings do not have a sufficiently strong motivational impact and do not affect taxpayers in the context of public policy. Deductions for mortgage interest can be regarded as a form of major housing support, but are related to taxpayer income and favor those with higher incomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Pavlína Kirschnerová & Jana Janoušková, 2018. "Are Tax Expenditures of Individuals Only a Tool of Tax Optimisation?," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 24(3), pages 239-252, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:iaecre:v:24:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11294-018-9696-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11294-018-9696-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11294-018-9696-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11294-018-9696-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sami Alpanda & Sarah Zubairy, 2016. "Housing and Tax Policy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2-3), pages 485-512, March.
    2. Maria Teresa Medeiros Garcia, 2017. "Overview of the Portuguese Three Pillar Pension System," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 23(2), pages 175-189, May.
    3. Poterba, James M. & Sinai, Todd, 2011. "Revenue Costs and Incentive Effects of the Mortgage Interest Deduction for Owner-Occupied Housing," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 64(2), pages 531-564, June.
    4. Tunga Kantarcı & Ingrid A J Smeets & Arthur van Soest, 2013. "Implications of Full and Partial Retirement for Replacement Rates in a Defined Benefit System," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 38(4), pages 824-856, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ghoddusi, Hamed & Afkhami, Mohamad, 2019. "Valuation of mortgage interest deductibility under uncertainty: An option pricing approach," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 102-122.
    2. Wodon, Quentin, 2014. "Comparing Itemized Tax Deductions across States: A Simple Decomposition Applied to Mortgage Interest Deductions," MPRA Paper 56940, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. David Albouy & Andrew Hanson, 2014. "Are Houses Too Big or In the Wrong Place? Tax Benefits to Housing and Inefficiencies in Location and Consumption," Tax Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(1), pages 63-96.
    4. Philippe Bracke & Christian Hilber & Olmo Silva, 2014. "Homeownership and Entrepreneurship: The Role of Mortgage Debt and Commitment," CESifo Working Paper Series 5048, CESifo.
    5. Zhang, Yahong, 2019. "Household debt, financial intermediation, and monetary policy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 230-257.
    6. Chu, Shiou-Yen, 2018. "Macroeconomic policies and housing market in Taiwan," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 404-421.
    7. Andrew Hanson & Hal Martin, 2014. "Housing Market Distortions and the Mortgage Interest Deduction," Public Finance Review, , vol. 42(5), pages 582-607, September.
    8. Riley, Sarah F. & Ru, Hong Yu & Feng, Qing, 2013. "The User Cost of Low-Income Homeownership," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 43(2).
    9. Bielecki, Marcin & Stähler, Nikolai, 2022. "Labor Tax Reductions In Europe: The Role Of Property Taxation," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(2), pages 419-451, March.
    10. Wenli Li & Edison Yu, 2022. "Real Estate Taxes and Home Value: Evidence from TCJA," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 43, pages 125-151, January.
    11. Eunseong Ma & Sarah Zubairy, 2021. "Homeownership And Housing Transitions: Explaining The Demographic Composition," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 62(2), pages 599-638, May.
    12. Hal Martin, 2018. "The Impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Local Home Values," Working Papers (Old Series) 1806, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    13. Gregory Bauer, 2014. "International House Price Cycles, Monetary Policy and Risk Premiums," Staff Working Papers 14-54, Bank of Canada.
    14. Dawkins, Casey J., 2023. "The geography of US homeownership tax expenditures," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(PA).
    15. Kolasa Marcin, 2021. "On the Limits of Macroprudential Policy," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 21(1), pages 281-307, January.
    16. Sami Alpanda & Gino Cateau & Césaire Meh, 2018. "A policy model to analyze macroprudential regulations and monetary policy," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(3), pages 828-863, August.
    17. Mr. Pau Rabanal, 2018. "An Estimated DSGE Model to Analyze Housing Market Policies in Hong Kong SAR," IMF Working Papers 2018/090, International Monetary Fund.
    18. Martin, Hal & Hanson, Andrew, 2016. "Metropolitan area home prices and the mortgage interest deduction: Estimates and simulations from policy change," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 12-23.
    19. Bahadir, Berrak & De, Kuhelika & Lastrapes, William D., 2020. "Household debt, consumption and inequality," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    20. Serena Fatica & Doris Prammer, 2018. "Housing and the Tax System: How Large Are the Distortions in the Euro Area?," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(2), pages 299-342, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax policy; Tax deductions; Individuals; Mortgage interest; Life insurance; Retirement contributions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:iaecre:v:24:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11294-018-9696-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.