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Optimum Taxation of Life Annuities

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Abstract

The market for private life annuities is characterised by adverse selection, that is, contracts offer lower than fair payoffs to individuals with low life expectancy. Moreover, life expectancy and income have been found to be positively correlated. The paper shows that a linear tax on annuity payoffs, which raises more revenues from long-living individuals than from short-living, represents an appropriate instrument for redistribution, in addition to an optimally designed labour income tax. Further, we find that a nonlinear tax on annuity payoffs can be directly employed to correct the distortion of the rate of return caused by asymmetric information. These results are contrasted with theoretical findings concerning the role of a tax on capital income.

Suggested Citation

  • Johann K. Brunner & Susanne Pech, 2005. "Optimum Taxation of Life Annuities," Economics working papers 2005-06, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    • Handle: RePEc:jku:econwp:2005_06
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    Cited by:

    1. Helmuth Cremer & Jean‐Marie Lozachmeur & Pierre Pestieau, 2010. "Collective Annuities and Redistribution," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 12(1), pages 23-41, February.
    2. Bommier, Antoine & Leroux, Marie-Louise & Lozachmeur, Jean-Marie, 2011. "On the public economics of annuities with differential mortality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 612-623.
    3. Ben J. Heijdra & Yang Jiang & Jochen O. Mierau, 2019. "The Macroeconomic Effects of Longevity Risk Under Private and Public Insurance and Asymmetric Information," De Economist, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 177-213, June.
    4. Bütler, Monika & Ramsden, Alma, 2017. "How taxes impact the choice between an annuity and the lump sum at retirement," Economics Working Paper Series 1701, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    5. Direr, A., 2010. "The taxation of life annuities under adverse selection," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1-2), pages 50-58, February.
    6. Bütler, Monika & Ramsden, Alma, 2016. "Pricing annuities: The role of taxation in retirement decisions," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145525, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Optimum taxation; life annuities; adverse selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • G2 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services

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