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Accidental bequests: a curse for the rich and a boon for the poor

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  • Cremer, Helmuth
  • Gahvari, Firouz
  • Pestieau, Pierre

Abstract

When accidental bequests signal otherwise unobservable individual characteristics such as productivity and longevity, the tax administration should partition the population into two groups: One consisting of people who do not receive an inheritance and the other of those who do. The first tagged group gets a second-best tax à la Mirrlees; the second group a first-best tax schedule. The solution implies that receiving an inheritance makes high-ability types worse off and low-ability types better off. High-ability individuals will necessarily face a bequest tax of more than 100%, while low-ability types face a bequest tax that can be smaller as well as larger than 100%. With a Rawlsian social welfare function, the low-ability types too face a more than 100% tax on bequests.

Suggested Citation

  • Cremer, Helmuth & Gahvari, Firouz & Pestieau, Pierre, 2009. "Accidental bequests: a curse for the rich and a boon for the poor," TSE Working Papers 09-119, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    • Handle: RePEc:tse:wpaper:21970
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cremer, Helmuth & Pestieau, Pierre & Rochet, Jean-Charles, 2003. "Capital income taxation when inherited wealth is not observable," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(11), pages 2475-2490, October.
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    9. Helmuth Cremer & Firouz Gahvari & Jean-Marie Lozachmeur, 2010. "Tagging and Income Taxation: Theory and an Application," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 31-50, February.
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    11. MICHEL, Philippe & PESTIEAU, Pierre, 2002. "Wealth transfer taxation with both accidental and planned bequests," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2002059, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
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    Cited by:

    1. Marie‐Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau, 2022. "Age‐related taxation of bequests in the presence of a dependency risk," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(1), pages 92-119, February.
    2. Marc Fleurbaey & Marie‐Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau & Gregory Ponthiere & Stephane Zuber, 2022. "Premature deaths, accidental bequests, and fairness," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(3), pages 709-743, July.
    3. Chen, Yu-Fu & Funke, Michael, 2010. "Global Warming And Extreme Events: Rethinking The Timing And Intensity Of Environmental Policy," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-48, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    4. Leroux, Marie-Louise & Pestieau, Pierre, 2021. "Age and health related inheritance taxation," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2021002, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    5. Spencer Bastani & Daniel Waldenström, 2020. "How Should Capital Be Taxed?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 812-846, September.
    6. Georges Casamatta, 2023. "On the desirability of taxing bequests," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 195-219, April.
    7. Marie‐Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau, 2023. "Age‐ and health‐related non‐linear inheritance taxation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 897-912, August.
    8. Ponthiere, Gregory, 2023. "Social Insurance against a Short Life: Ante-Mortem versus Post-Mortem Policies," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1342, Global Labor Organization (GLO).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Accidental bequests; estate tax; tagging; first best; second best;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation

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