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Optimal Taxation of Capital Income with Heterogeneous Rates of Return

Author

Listed:
  • Aart Gerritsen
  • Bas Jacobs
  • Kevin Spiritus
  • Alexandra V Rusu

Abstract

We derive the Pareto-efficient mix of non-linear taxes on labour income and capital income if people differ in their rates of return on capital. We allow for two reasons why rates of return differ: because individuals with higher ability are better able to invest their capital or because wealthier individuals enjoy scale effects in wealth accumulation. In both cases, a strictly positive tax on capital income is part of any Pareto-efficient tax system. We derive a condition for the Pareto-efficient tax mix that relies solely on empirical sufficient statistics—not on social welfare weights—and find that Pareto-efficient taxes on capital income increase with the degree of return heterogeneity. Numerical simulations for empirically plausible return heterogeneity suggest that Pareto-efficient marginal tax rates on capital income are positive and substantial.

Suggested Citation

  • Aart Gerritsen & Bas Jacobs & Kevin Spiritus & Alexandra V Rusu, 2025. "Optimal Taxation of Capital Income with Heterogeneous Rates of Return," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 135(665), pages 180-211.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:135:y:2025:i:665:p:180-211.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/ueae083
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jacquet, Laurence & Lehmann, Etienne, 2021. "How to Tax Different Incomes?," IZA Discussion Papers 14739, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Hellwig, Christian & Werquin, Nicolas, 2022. "Using Consumption Data to Derive Optimal Income and Capital Tax Rates," TSE Working Papers 22-1284, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Jan 2026.
    3. Spiritus, Kevin & Lehmann, Etienne & Renes, Sander & Zoutman, Floris T., 2025. "Optimal taxation with multiple incomes and types," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 20(2), May.
    4. Karl Schulz, 2021. "Redistribution of Return Inequality," CESifo Working Paper Series 8996, CESifo.
    5. Paweł Doligalski & Piotr Dworczak & Mohammad Akbarpour & Scott Duke Kominers*, 2025. "Optimal Redistribution via Income Taxation and Market Design," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 25/787, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    6. Florian Scheuer & Joel Slemrod, 2021. "Taxing Our Wealth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 207-230, Winter.
    7. Spencer Bastani & Sebastian Koehne, 2024. "How Should Consumption Be Taxed?," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 80(3), pages 259-302.
    8. Robin Boadway & Kevin Spiritus, 2025. "Optimal taxation of normal and excess returns to risky assets," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 127(2), pages 366-389, April.
    9. Kevin Spiritus, 2025. "Optimal commodity taxation when households earn multiple incomes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 32(1), pages 98-119, February.
    10. Csaba Lentner & Szilárd Hegedűs & Vitéz Nagy, 2022. "Correlations of Taxation and Macroeconomic Indicators in the OECD Member Countries from 2014 to the First Year of the Crisis Caused by COVID-19," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-17, October.
    11. Antoine Ferey & Benjamin B. Lockwood & Dmitry Taubinsky, 2024. "Sufficient Statistics for Nonlinear Tax Systems with General Across-Income Heterogeneity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(10), pages 3206-3249, October.
    12. Eddy Zanoutene, 2023. "Scale‐dependent and risky returns to savings: Consequences for optimal capital taxation," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 25(3), pages 532-569, June.
    13. Sarah Perret, 2021. "Why were most wealth taxes abandoned and is this time different?," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3-4), pages 539-563, September.
    14. Pierre-Edouard Collignon, 2021. "No Regret Fiscal Reforms," Working Papers 2021-20, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies

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