IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_3368.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Assessing the Distributional Effects of Housing Taxation in Italy: From the Actual Tax Code to Imputed Rent

Author

Listed:
  • Simone Pellegrino
  • Massimiliano Piacenza
  • Gilberto Turati

Abstract

The presence of extensive housing subsidies characterises the current tax systems as inefficient. In this paper, we study whether inefficiency is the price to be paid to improve equity, by assessing the actual distributive impact of housing taxation on Italian households. We concentrate on the personal income tax on the main residence, and compare provisions of the Tax Code with an alternative approach, by considering the imputed rent from owner-occupied dwelling as a component of the Personal Income Tax gross income. Our results suggest that current tax system is just as inefficient as it is inequitable.

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Pellegrino & Massimiliano Piacenza & Gilberto Turati, 2011. "Assessing the Distributional Effects of Housing Taxation in Italy: From the Actual Tax Code to Imputed Rent," CESifo Working Paper Series 3368, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_3368
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp3368.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jappelli, Tullio & Pistaferri, Luigi, 2007. "Do people respond to tax incentives? An analysis of the Italian reform of the deductibility of home mortgage interests," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 247-271, February.
    2. Rosen, Harvey S., 1985. "Housing subsidies: Effects on housing decisions, efficiency, and equity," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 7, pages 375-420, Elsevier.
    3. (IFS), Institute for Fiscal Studies & Mirrlees, James (ed.), 2011. "Tax By Design: The Mirrlees Review," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199553747.
    4. Garner, Thesia I. & Short, Kathleen, 2009. "Accounting for owner-occupied dwelling services: Aggregates and distributions," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 233-248, September.
    5. Simone Pellegrino & Massimiliano Piacenza & Gilberto Turati, 2011. "Developing a static microsimulation model for the analysis of housing taxation in Italy," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 4(2), pages 73-85.
    6. Paul Johnson & Gareth Myles, 2011. "The Mirrlees Review," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 32(3), pages 319-329, September.
    7. Gabriella Berloffa & Paola Villa, 2010. "Differences In Equivalent Income Across Cohorts Of Households: Evidence From Italy," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 56(4), pages 693-714, December.
    8. Callan, Tim & Keane, Claire, 2009. "Non-cash Benefits and the Distribution of Economic Welfare," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 49-71.
    9. Richard Goode, 1960. "Imputed Rent Of Owner‐Occupied Dwellings Under The Income Tax," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 15(4), pages 504-530, December.
    10. Green, Richard K. & White, Michelle J., 1994. "Measuring the Benefits of Homeowning: Effects on Children," Working Papers 93, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    11. Judith Yates, 1994. "Imputed Rent And Income Distribution," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 40(1), pages 43-66, March.
    12. Poterba, James M, 1992. "Taxation and Housing: Old Questions, New Answers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 237-242, May.
    13. Joachim R. Frick & Markus M. Grabka, 2003. "Imputed Rent and Income Inequality: A Decomposition Analysis for Great Britain, West Germany and the U.S," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 49(4), pages 513-537, December.
    14. Tadashi Yagi & Toshiaki Tachibanaki, 1998. "Income Redistribution Through The Tax System: A Simulation Analysis Of Tax Reform," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 44(3), pages 397-415, September.
    15. Simone Pellegrino & Achille Vernizzi, 2010. "The 2007 Personal Income Tax Reform in Italy: Effects on Potential Equity, Horizontal Inequity and Re-ranking," Working papers 14, Former Department of Economics and Public Finance "G. Prato", University of Torino.
    16. Edward L. Glaeser & Bruce Sacerdote, 1999. "Why Is There More Crime in Cities?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(S6), pages 225-258, December.
    17. Onrubia, Jorge & Rodado, M. Carmen & Ayala, Luis, 2009. "How do services of owner-occupied housing affect income inequality and redistribution?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 224-232, September.
    18. Eva Sierminska & Andrea Brandolini & Timothy M Smeeding, 2007. "Comparing wealth distribution across rich countries: the Luxembourg Wealth Study project," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Proceedings of the IFC Conference on "Measuring the financial position of the household sector", Basel, 30-31 August 2006 - Volume 1, volume 25, pages 297-310, Bank for International Settlements.
    19. Aaron, Henry, 1970. "Income Taxes and Housing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(5), pages 789-806, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kilgarriff, Paul & Charlton, Martin & Foley, Ronan & O'Donoghue, Cathal, 2019. "The impact of housing consumption value on the spatial distribution of welfare," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 118-130.
    2. Virginia Maestri, 2015. "A Measure of Income Poverty Including Housing: Benefits and Limitations for Policy Making," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 121(3), pages 675-696, April.

    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. Panos Tsakloglou & Francesco Figari & Alari Paulus & Holly Sutherland & Gerlinde Verbist & Francesca Zantomio, 2012. "Taxing home ownership: distributional effects of including net imputed rent in taxable income," EcoMod2012 4323, EcoMod.
    2. Tuukka Saarimaa, 2011. "Imputed Rental Income, Taxation and Income Distribution in Finland," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(8), pages 1695-1714, June.
    3. Erlend Eide Bø, 2020. "Taxation of Housing: Killing Several Birds with One Stone," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(3), pages 534-557, September.
    4. Frick, Joachim R. & Grabka, Markus M. & Smeeding, Timothy M. & Tsakloglou, Panos, 2010. "Distributional Effects of Imputed Rents in Five European Countries," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 19(3), pages 167-179.
    5. Brent W. Ambrose & Patric H. Hendershott & David C. Ling & Gary A. McGill, 2022. "Homeownership and taxes: How the TCJA altered the tax code's treatment of housing," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1167-1200, September.
    6. Christos Koutsampelas & Panos Tsakloglou, 2013. "The distribution of full income in Greece," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 40(4), pages 311-330, March.
    7. Kilgarriff, Paul & Charlton, Martin & Foley, Ronan & O'Donoghue, Cathal, 2019. "The impact of housing consumption value on the spatial distribution of welfare," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 118-130.
    8. Fessler, Pirmin & Rehm, Miriam & Tockner, Lukas, 2014. "The impact of housing non-cash income on the unconditional distribution of household income in Austria," Working Paper Series 1718, European Central Bank.
    9. Jonathan Gruber & Amalie Jensen & Henrik Kleven, 2017. "Do People Respond to the Mortage Interest Deduction? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Denmark," NBER Working Papers 23600, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Maxence Valentin, 2024. "Subsidizing housing with deductions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 1490-1515, September.
    11. Scholten, Ulrich, 1999. "Die Förderung von Wohneigentum," Beiträge zur Finanzwissenschaft, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, edition 1, volume 8, number urn:isbn:9783161472343, September.
    12. Garner, Thesia I. & Short, Kathleen, 2009. "Accounting for owner-occupied dwelling services: Aggregates and distributions," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 233-248, September.
    13. Essi Eerola, 2019. "Macroprudential Measures and Taxation in the Housing Markets," EconPol Policy Brief 17, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    14. Markus M. Grabka, 2006. "Codebook for the $PEQUIV File 1984-2005: CNEF Variables with Extended Income Information for the SOEP," Data Documentation 12, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    15. European Commission, 2013. "Tax reforms in EU Member States - Tax policy challenges for economic growth and fiscal sustainability – 2013 Report," Taxation Papers 38, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    16. Robin Boadway & Pierre Pestieau, 2018. "The Dubious Case for Annual Wealth Taxation," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 16(02), pages 03-07, August.
    17. José Mª Durán-Cabré & Alejandro Esteller-Moré, 2014. "Tax professionals' view of the Spanish tax system: efficiency, equity and tax planning," Working Papers 2014/5, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    18. Hilber, Christian A.L. & Lyytikäinen, Teemu, 2017. "Transfer taxes and household mobility: Distortion on the housing or labor market?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 57-73.
    19. Christian A. L. Hilber & Teemu Lyytikäinen, 2012. "The Effect of the UK Stamp Duty Land Tax on Household Mobility," SERC Discussion Papers 0115, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    20. Nils aus dem Moore, 2014. "Taxes and Corporate Financing Decisions – Evidence from the Belgian ACE Reform," Ruhr Economic Papers 0533, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    housing taxation; imputed rents; microsimulation models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

    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:ces:ceswps:_3368. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.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.