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Tax bunching by owners of small corporations

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  • Bettendorf, Leon
  • Lejour, Arjan

    (Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management)

  • van 't Riet, Maarten

Abstract

In the Netherlands owners of small corporations face taxation of corporate, labour and capital income. Taxation of the latter may be deferred. We study their options for income shifting using bunching techniques. Based on individual tax records over the period 2007-2011 we report four main findings. The first is that the distribution of gross labour income strongly peaks at the legal 'minimum' level. Second, taxable labour income bunches at the cut-offs of the tax brackets. The elasticity of taxable income at the top tax cut-off ranges from 0.06 to 0.11. Third, we show that distributed profits strongly responded to the temporary tax cut from 25 to 22% in 2007, which doubled tax revenues on dividends. Fourth, using a Heckman selection model we find that the size of own equity has a positive effect on the probability of distributing profits and the size. We reconfirm the importance of intertemporal income shifting for business owners.
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Suggested Citation

  • Bettendorf, Leon & Lejour, Arjan & van 't Riet, Maarten, 2017. "Tax bunching by owners of small corporations," Other publications TiSEM 58e79329-7324-4083-991b-d, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:tiu:tiutis:58e79329-7324-4083-991b-df61b11f36ff
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    Cited by:

    1. Dekker, Vincent & Strohmaier, Kristina & Bosch, Nicole, 2016. "A data-driven procedure to determine the bunching window: An application to the Netherlands," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 05-2016, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    2. Nicole Bosch & Egbert Jongen & Wouter Leenders & Jan Möhlmann, 2019. "Non-bunching at kinks and notches in cash transfers in the Netherlands," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(6), pages 1329-1352, December.
    3. Nicole Bosch & Egbert Jongen & Wouter Leenders & Jan Möhlmann, 2019. "Non-Bunching at Kinks and Notches in Cash Transfers," CPB Discussion Paper 401.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    4. Massenz, Gabriella, 2023. "On the behavioral effects of tax policy," Other publications TiSEM eb44a9f7-b859-480d-b2e4-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Nicole Bosch & Egbert Jongen & Wouter Leenders & Jan Möhlmann, 2019. "Non-Bunching at Kinks and Notches in Cash Transfers," CPB Discussion Paper 401, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    6. Nicole Bosch & Vincent Dekker & Kristina Strohmaier, 2016. "A Data-Driven Procedure to Determine the Bunching Window - An Application to the Netherlands," CPB Discussion Paper 336, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    7. Nicole Bosch & Vincent Dekker & Kristina Strohmaier, 2020. "A data-driven procedure to determine the bunching window: an application to the Netherlands," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(4), pages 951-979, August.
    8. Nicole Bosch & Vincent Dekker & Kristina Strohmaier, 2016. "A Data-Driven Procedure to Determine the Bunching Window - An Application to the Netherlands," CPB Discussion Paper 336.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    9. Nicole Bosch & Maja Micevska-Scharf, 2017. "Who Bears the Burden of Social Security Contributions in the Netherlands? Evidence from Dutch Administrative Data," De Economist, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 205-224, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H68 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Forecasts of Budgets, Deficits, and Debt

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