Behavioral Responses to Wealth Taxes: Evidence from Switzerland

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Year: 2022
Volume: 14
Issue: 4
Pages: 111-50

Authors (4)

Marius Brülhart (not in RePEc) Jonathan Gruber (not in RePEc) Matthias Krapf (CESifo) Kurt Schmidheiny (Centre for Economic Policy Res...)

Score contribution per author:

1.005 = (α=2.01 / 4 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We study how declared wealth responds to changes in wealth tax rates. Exploiting rich intranational variation in Switzerland, we find a 1 percentage point drop in a canton's wealth tax rate raises reported taxable wealth by at least 43 percent after 6 years. Administrative tax records of two cantons with quasi-randomly assigned differential tax reforms suggest that 24 percent of the effect arises from taxpayer mobility and 21 percent from a concurrent rise in housing prices. Savings responses appear unable to explain more than a small fraction of the remainder, suggesting sizable evasion responses in this setting with no third-party reporting of financial wealth.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejpol:v:14:y:2022:i:4:p:111-50
Journal Field
General
Author Count
4
Added to Database
2026-01-25