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Behavioral Responses to Inheritance and Gift Taxation: Evidence from Germany

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  • Ulrich Glogowsky

Abstract

The desirability of inheritance and gift taxes depends on individuals’ tax responsiveness. This paper demonstrates how strongly, and in what way, the German inheritance and gift tax influences taxpayer behavior. To that end, it combines administrative data with cross-bracket tax variation: a convex kink in the tax liability precedes a concave kink. Extending the bunching approach to such double-kinked tax schedules, I document that individuals tailor their taxable wealth transfers to the schedules. One type of response dominates for inheritances: testators engage in testament planning. The magnitude of the testament-planning response is comparable to that of inter vivos gifts. However, neither the overall responses of gifts nor those of inheritances heavily interfere with tax revenue collection: the associated short-run net-of-tax elasticities of taxable wealth transfers lie below 0.1.

Suggested Citation

  • Ulrich Glogowsky, 2020. "Behavioral Responses to Inheritance and Gift Taxation: Evidence from Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 8628, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8628
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    Cited by:

    1. David Sturrock & Stefan Groot & Jan Möhlmann, 2022. "Wealth, gifts, and estate planning at the end of life," CPB Discussion Paper 442, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    2. Alexander Krenek & Margit Schratzenstaller & Klaus Grünberger & Andreas Thiemann, 2022. "INTAXMOD – Inheritance and Gift Taxation in the Context of Ageing," WIFO Working Papers 645, WIFO.
    3. Marius A. K. Ring & Thor Olav Thoresen, 2022. "Wealth Taxation and Charitable Giving," CESifo Working Paper Series 9700, CESifo.
    4. Escobar, Sebastian & Ohlsson, Henry & Selin, Håkan, 2023. "Giving to the children or the taxman?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    5. Margit Schratzenstaller, 2023. "Behavioral Responses to Inheritance Taxation. A Review of the Empirical Literature," WIFO Working Papers 668, WIFO.
    6. Janusz Kud³a & Robert Kruszewski & Maciej Dudek & Konrad Walczyk, 2023. "The impact of bequest taxation on savings and transfers," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 18(2), pages 333-365, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wealth-transfer tax; inheritance tax; gift tax; estate tax; real responses; tax avoidance; tax evasion; behavioral responses; bunching at kinks;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • 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
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

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