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International tax competition: zero tax rate at the top re-established

Author

Listed:
  • Tomer Blumkin
  • Efraim Sadka
  • Yotam Shem-Tov

Abstract

In this paper, we extend the zero tax at the top result obtained in the closed economy case with bounded skill distributions for the case of unbounded skill distributions in the presence of international labor mobility and tax competition. We show that in the equilibrium for the tax competition game, the optimal marginal income tax rate converges to zero as the income level tends to infinity. We further show in simulations that the zero-marginal tax result is not a local property: over a substantial range at the higher end of the income distribution, the optimal tax is approximately given by a lump-sum tax set at its Laffer rate. We further show that the range in which the optimal marginal tax is approximately set to zero is widening as migration costs decrease. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Tomer Blumkin & Efraim Sadka & Yotam Shem-Tov, 2015. "International tax competition: zero tax rate at the top re-established," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(5), pages 760-776, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:22:y:2015:i:5:p:760-776
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-014-9335-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Engelmann, Dirk & Janeba, Eckhard & Mechtenberg, Lydia & Wehrhöfer, Nils, 2023. "Preferences over taxation of high-income individuals: Evidence from a survey experiment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    3. Laurence Jacquet & Etienne Lehmann, 2023. "Optimal tax problems with multidimensional heterogeneity: a mechanism design approach," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 60(1), pages 135-164, January.
    4. Laurence Jacquet & Etienne Lehmann, 2021. "Optimal Income Taxation with Composition Effects," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(2), pages 1299-1341.
    5. Stefan Traub & Hongyan Yang, 2020. "Tax Competition and the Distribution of Income," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(1), pages 109-131, January.
    6. Michel Poitevin, 2018. "Concurrence fiscale et biens publics," CIRANO Project Reports 2018rp-09, CIRANO.
    7. Dai, Darong & Gao, Wenzheng & Tian, Guoqiang, 2020. "Relativity, mobility, and optimal nonlinear income taxation in an open economy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 57-82.
    8. Darong Dai & Guoqiang Tian, 2023. "Voting over selfishly optimal income tax schedules with tax-driven migrations," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 60(1), pages 183-235, January.
    9. OBARA, Takuya, 2016. "Differential Income Taxation and Tiebout Sorting," CCES Discussion Paper Series 64_v2, Center for Research on Contemporary Economic Systems, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax competition; Migration; Zero-marginal tax at the top; D6; H2; H5;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies

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