IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ipf/psejou/v45y2021i2p283-303.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An overview of the taxation of residential property: is it a good idea?

Author

Listed:
  • Marta Rodriguez-Vives

    (Principal Economist at Fiscal Policies Division, European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

  • Miguel Angel Gavilan-Rubio

    (Researcher at Analysis and Research Division, Bank of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia)

Abstract

This article examines the taxation of property in the residential market as a potential revenue-raising tool in public finance. Economists generally consider taxing property to be less distortionary than taxing other tax bases. It ranks well in terms of trade-offs across long-term growth and inequality considerations. Although countries have different societal preferences, recourse to property taxation is not generally widespread. Using panel data methods and stochastic frontier analysis, we provide evidence that government revenue from property taxation is relatively inelastic to house price and quantity developments, and that countries with a higher implicit tax rate tend to be more efficient at collecting the revenue. Despite the increase of prices since 2014, low revenues can be the result of low effective tax rates and outdated house valuation systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Marta Rodriguez-Vives & Miguel Angel Gavilan-Rubio, 2021. "An overview of the taxation of residential property: is it a good idea?," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 45(2), pages 283-303.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipf:psejou:v:45:y:2021:i:2:p:283-303
    DOI: 10.3326/pse.45.2.5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.pse-journal.hr/upload/files/pse/2021/2/5.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.3326/pse.45.2.5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2013. "A Theory of Optimal Inheritance Taxation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(5), pages 1851-1886, September.
    2. Boris Cournède & Antoine Goujard & Álvaro Pina, 2013. "How to Achieve Growth- and Equity-friendly Fiscal Consolidation?: A Proposed Methodology for Instrument Choice with an Illustrative Application to OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1088, OECD Publishing.
    3. Serena Fatica & Doris Prammer, 2018. "Housing and the Tax System: How Large Are the Distortions in the Euro Area?," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(2), pages 299-342, June.
    4. Mr. John Norregaard, 2013. "Taxing Immovable Property Revenue Potential and Implementation Challenges," IMF Working Papers 2013/129, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Werner Roeger & Jan in 't Veld, 2010. "Fiscal stimulus and exit strategies in the EU: a model-based analysis," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 426, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    6. Mr. Santiago Acosta Ormaechea, 2012. "Tax Composition and Growth: A Broad Cross-Country Perspective," IMF Working Papers 2012/257, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Jens Matthias Arnold, 2008. "Do Tax Structures Affect Aggregate Economic Growth?: Empirical Evidence from a Panel of OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 643, OECD Publishing.
    8. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00879813 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Michael Förster & Ana Llena-Nozal & Vahé Nafilyan, 2014. "Trends in Top Incomes and their Taxation in OECD Countries," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 159, OECD Publishing.
    10. Mr. Marco Committeri & Ms. Carola Pessino, 2013. "Understanding Countries’ Tax Effort," IMF Working Papers 2013/244, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Maria Chiara Cavalleri & Boris Cournède & Volker Ziemann, 2019. "Housing markets and macroeconomic risks," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1555, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Doris Prammer, 2020. "Immovable property: where, why and how should it be taxed? A review of the literature and its implementation in Europe," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 44(4), pages 483-504.
    2. Alexander Krenek & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2018. "A European Net Wealth Tax," WIFO Working Papers 561, WIFO.
    3. Godin, M. & Hindriks, J., 2015. "A Review of Critical Issues on Tax Design and Tax Administration in a Global Economy and Developing Countries," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2015028, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    4. Åsa Johansson, 2016. "Public Finance, Economic Growth and Inequality: A Survey of the Evidence," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1346, OECD Publishing.
    5. Angela Köppl & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2015. "The Austrian Tax System – Perspectives for Reform," WIFO Bulletin, WIFO, vol. 20(6), pages 72-79, April.
    6. Andrea Filippetti & Agnese Sacchi, 2016. "Decentralization and economic growth reconsidered: The role of regional authority," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(8), pages 1793-1824, December.
    7. Ismoil Khujamkulov & Sohrab Abizadeh, 2023. "Trends in tax revenues of transition economies: an empirical approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 833-868, February.
    8. European Commission, 2011. "Tax Reforms in EU Member States 2011: tax policy challenges for economic growth and fiscal sustainability," Taxation Papers 28, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    9. Presbitero, Andrea F. & Sacchi, Agnese & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2014. "Property tax and fiscal discipline in OECD countries," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 428-433.
    10. Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2013. "Vermögensbezogene Steuern. Ansatzpunkte, internationaler Vergleich und Optionen für Deutschland," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 47219, March.
    11. Luigi, Bernardi, 2011. "Economic crisis and taxation in Europe," MPRA Paper 31007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Angelovska Julijana & Časni Anita Čeh, 2022. "The influence of recurrent property income and expenditure on house prices in European Union countries: Evidence from a panel model," Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 8(1), pages 32-40, June.
    13. Donatella Baiardi & Paola Profeta & Riccardo Puglisi & Simona Scabrosetti, 2019. "Tax policy and economic growth: does it really matter?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(2), pages 282-316, April.
    14. Angela Köppl & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2015. "Das österreichische Abgabensystem – Reformperspektiven," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 88(2), pages 127-135, February.
    15. Dominik Bernhofer & Michael Ertl & Katharina Bohnenberger & Franziska Disslbacher & Julia Hofmann & Petra Innreiter & Markus Marterbauer & Patrick Mokre & Matthias Schnetzer, 2022. "Tax me if you can. Potenziale moderner Vermögensbesteuerung in Österreich," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 48(2), pages 207-230.
    16. Christine Lewis, 2019. "Raising more public revenue in Indonesia in a growth - and equity-friendly way," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1534, OECD Publishing.
    17. Nicola Borri & Pietro Reichlin, 2021. "Optimal Taxation with Home Ownership and Wealth Inequality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 40, pages 64-84, April.
    18. Max Franks & David Klenert & Anselm Schultes & Kai Lessmann & Ottmar Edenhofer, 2018. "Is capital back? The role of land ownership and savings behavior," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(5), pages 1252-1276, October.
    19. Alexander Leodolter & Savina Princen & Aleksander Rutkowski, 2022. "Immovable Property Taxation for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth," European Economy - Discussion Papers 156, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    20. Martin Murín, 2016. "Vplyv spôsobu tvorby fiškálneho deficitu na ekonomický rast [The Influence of Fiscal Deficit Creation on Economic Growth]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2016(2), pages 176-192.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    property tax; households; housing policies; housing prices; wealth inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

    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:ipf:psejou:v:45:y:2021:i:2:p:283-303. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Martina Fabris (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ijfffhr.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.