TY - JOUR

T1 - Optimal taxation of married couples with household production

AU - Kreiner, Claus Thustrup

AU - Kleven, Henrik Jacobsen

N1 - JEL classification: H21, D13, J22

PY - 2007

Y1 - 2007

N2 - The literature suggests that the concern for economic efficiency calls for individual-based taxation of married couples with a higher rate on the primary earner. This paper reconsiders the choice of tax unit in the Becker model of household production. In the absence of restrictions on the use of commodity taxes, efficient taxation requires joint taxation of the family. In the presence of restricted commodity taxation, the income tax should compensate for the erroneous commodity taxes. In this case, individual taxation is typically optimal, but not necessarily with a higher rate on primary earners as usually suggested

AB - The literature suggests that the concern for economic efficiency calls for individual-based taxation of married couples with a higher rate on the primary earner. This paper reconsiders the choice of tax unit in the Becker model of household production. In the absence of restrictions on the use of commodity taxes, efficient taxation requires joint taxation of the family. In the presence of restricted commodity taxation, the income tax should compensate for the erroneous commodity taxes. In this case, individual taxation is typically optimal, but not necessarily with a higher rate on primary earners as usually suggested

U2 - 10.1628/001522107X268998

DO - 10.1628/001522107X268998

M3 - Journal article

VL - 63

SP - 498

EP - 518

JO - FinanzArchiv

JF - FinanzArchiv

SN - 0015-2218

IS - 4

ER -