IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tam/wpaper/0317.html

On Optimal Non-linear Income Taxation: Numerical Results Revisited

Author

Listed:
  • Matti Tuomala

    (School of Management, University of Tampere)

Abstract

Based on numerical simulations there seems to be a kind of consensus in the optimal tax literature that the marginal tax rate should fall rather than rise with income. Retaining the same formal structure as in Mirrlees (1971) this paper shows that this consensus is sensitive to a choice of the assumed form of utility of consumption. For the utility function quadratic in consumption optimum tax schedules look rather like those traditionally chosen by governments, i.e. the marginal tax rates rise with income.

Suggested Citation

  • Matti Tuomala, 2003. "On Optimal Non-linear Income Taxation: Numerical Results Revisited," Working Papers 0317, Tampere University, Faculty of Management and Business, Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:tam:wpaper:0317
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://urn.fi/urn:isbn:951-44-5774-9
    File Function: First version, 2003
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ugo Colombino & Nizamul Islam, 2020. "Combining microsimulation and optimization to identify optimal flexible tax-transfer rule," CHILD Working Papers Series 86 JEL Classification: H2, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.
    2. Maciej Dudek & Paweł Dudek & Konrad Walczyk, 2023. "Optimal Labour Income Taxation in Poland: The Case of High-Income Earners," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 1, pages 41-65.
    3. Oztek, Abdullah Selim, 2019. "A Characterization for Marginal Income Tax Schedules," MPRA Paper 103046, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Dec 2019.
    4. Bastani, Spencer & Blomquist, Sören & Micheletto, Luca, 2010. "Public Provision of Private Goods, Tagging and Optimal Income Taxation with Heterogeneity in Needs," Working Paper Series, Center for Fiscal Studies 2010:14, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    5. Spencer Bastani & Sören Blomquist & Luca Micheletto, 2019. "Nonlinear and piecewise linear income taxation, and the subsidization of work-related goods," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(4), pages 806-834, August.
    6. Ugo Colombino & Nizamul Islam, 2021. "Combining microsimulation and optimization to identify optimal universalistic tax-transfer rule," LISER Working Paper Series 2021-06, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    7. Islam, Nizamul & Colombino, Ugo, 2018. "The case for NIT+FT in Europe. An empirical optimal taxation exercise," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 38-69.
    8. Soumyanetra Munshi, 2011. "On existence of pure strategy equilibrium with endogenous income," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 37(1), pages 1-37, June.
    9. Hsu, Minchung & Yang, C.C., 2013. "Optimal linear and two-bracket income taxes with idiosyncratic earnings risk," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 58-71.
    10. Bas Jacobs & Uwe Thuemmel, 2020. "Optimal Linear Income Taxation and Education Subsidies under Skill-Biased Technical Change," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 20-085/VI, Tinbergen Institute.
    11. Colombino Ugo & Locatelli Marilena & Narazani Edlira & O'Donoghue Cathal, 2010. "Alternative Basic Income Mechanisms: An Evaluation Exercise With a Microeconometric Model," Basic Income Studies, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, September.
    12. Rolf Aaberge & Ugo Colombino, 2018. "Structural Labour Supply Models and Microsimulation," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 11(1), pages 162-197.
    13. Rolf Aaberge & Ugo Colombino, 2005. "Designing Optimal Taxes With a Microeconometric Model of Household Labour Supply," Public Economics 0510013, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Nizamul Islam & Ugo Colombino, 2018. "The case for negative income tax with flat tax in Europe. An empirical optimal taxation exercise," Working Papers 454, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    15. Rolf Aaberge & Ugo Colombino, 2014. "Labour Supply Models," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Handbook of Microsimulation Modelling, volume 127, pages 167-221, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    16. Oztek, Abdullah Selim, 2013. "Externalities and Optimal Taxation: A Progressive Tax Case," MPRA Paper 104847, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Sep 2013.
    17. O'Donoghue, Cathal & Colombino, Ugo & Narazani, Edlira & Locatelli, Marilena & Shima, Isilda, 2008. "Behavioural and welfare effects of basic income policies: a simulation for European countries," EUROMOD Working Papers EM5/08, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    18. Colombino Ugo, 2012. "A microeconometric-computational approach to empirical optimal taxation: outline of a project," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201218, University of Turin.
    19. Dingquan Miao, 2025. "Optimal labor income taxation: the role of the skill distribution," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 64(3), pages 393-425, May.
    20. Amedeo Piolatto & Gwenola Trotin, 2016. "Optimal Income Tax Enforcement under Prospect Theory," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 18(1), pages 29-41, February.
    21. Dudek, Maciej & Dudek, Paweł & Walczyk, Konrad, . "Optymalne opodatkowanie dochodów z pracy w Polsce – przypadek osób o wysokich dochodach," Gospodarka Narodowa-The Polish Journal of Economics, Szkoła Główna Handlowa w Warszawie / SGH Warsaw School of Economics, vol. 2023(1).
    22. Spencer Bastani & Sören Blomquist & Luca Micheletto, 2020. "Child Care Subsidies, Quality, and Optimal Income Taxation," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 1-37, November.
    23. Thomas Bassetti & Luciano Greco, 2015. "Optimal Taxation and Productive Social Expenditure," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0196, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

    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:tam:wpaper:0317. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sami Remes (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/khutafi.html .

    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.