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Do Local Governments Tax Homeowner Communities Differently?

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  • Lerbs, Oliver
  • Füss, Roland

Abstract

Using data from a complete housing inventory in the 2011 German Census and historical war damages as a source of exogenous variation in local homeownership, we provide evidence that otherwise identical jurisdictions charge lower property taxes when the share of homeowners in their population is higher. The result is independent of local market conditions, suggesting tax salience as key mechanism. We find positive spatial dependence in tax multipliers, indicative of property tax mimicking.

Suggested Citation

  • Lerbs, Oliver & Füss, Roland, 2017. "Do Local Governments Tax Homeowner Communities Differently?," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168128, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc17:168128
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

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