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Assessing the Distributional Effects of Housing Taxation in Italy: a Microsimulation Approach

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  • Simone Pellegrino
  • Massimiliano Piacenza
  • Gilberto Turati

Abstract

The presence of extensive housing subsidies characterizes the current Italian tax system as inefficient. In this article, we study whether inefficiency is the price to be paid to improve equity, by assessing the distributive impact of housing taxation on households' well-being. We concentrate on the Personal Income Tax (PIT) on the main residence, and compare current provisions of the Tax Code with alternative approaches which consider the imputed rent (IR) from owner-occupied dwellings, and would make the tax system neutral with respect to the allocation of wealth among different assets. Holding revenues constant at the current level, we assess the distributional consequences of the IR approach in terms of several alternative scenarios. Our results suggest that the current tax system is as inefficient as it is inequitable. In particular, by including IR from owner-occupied dwellings as a component of the PIT gross income, we find that overall, inequality is reduced, while contemporaneously increasing efficiency in the allocation of wealth. Moreover, considering changes in tax liabilities for individual taxpayers, we show that taxing IRs will favour the young and penalize the elderly. (JEL Codes: H24, D31) Copyright The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Munich. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Pellegrino & Massimiliano Piacenza & Gilberto Turati, 2012. "Assessing the Distributional Effects of Housing Taxation in Italy: a Microsimulation Approach," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 58(3), pages 495-524, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cesifo:v:58:y:2012:i:3:p:495-524
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cesifo/ifs004
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Caro, 2020. "Decomposing Personal Income Tax Redistribution with Application to Italy," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(1), pages 113-129, March.
    2. Giovanna Messina & Marco Savegnago, 2015. "Le imposte sulla prima casa in Italia, un equilibrio difficile fra decentramento e redistribuzione," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(3), pages 5-29.
    3. Figari, Francesco & Paulus, Alari & Sutherland, Holly & Tsakloglou, Panos & Verbist, Gerlinde & Zantomio, Francesca, 2012. "Taxing Home Ownership: Distributional Effects of Including Net Imputed Rent in Taxable Income," IZA Discussion Papers 6493, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Massimiliano Ferraresi & Leonzio Rizzo, 2015. "L?impatto della contabilità euro-compatibile in un?auspicabile evoluzione del patto di stabilità interno," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(3), pages 31-57.
    5. Riccardo Novaro & Massimiliano Piacenza & Gilberto Turati, 2022. "Does money laundering inflate residential house prices? Evidence from the Italian provincial markets," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(4), pages 672-691, November.
    6. Paolo Di Caro, 2017. "Analisi distributiva dell?IRPEF utilizzando i microdati di fonte fiscale," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1), pages 35-59.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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