Offshore Tax Evasion and Wealth Inequality: Evidence from a Tax Amnesty in the Netherlands
Journal of Public Economics · 2020 · Wouter Leenders、Arjan Lejour、Simon Rabaté、Maarten van ’t Riet
中文摘要
我们利用涵盖荷兰逾29,000名逃税者的独特数据集，考察逃税的分布及其对财富不平等测度的影响。逃税集中在财富分布的顶端：最富有的0.01%的家庭——即“超级富豪”——中，超过10%存在逃税行为。在财富分布顶端，家庭逃避缴纳的税款约占其真实应纳税额的8%。“普通富人”（P90—P99.9）拥有67%的隐匿财富，而“超级富豪”仅占7%。因此，将离岸财富纳入校正对顶端群体财富份额的影响有限。我们阐述了荷兰家庭逃税分布的若干解释：邻国为“普通富人”提供低成本的逃税机会；“超级富豪”采用复杂的逃税形式、适用的有效税率较低，并迁移至低税收管辖区。综合来看，这些解释表明，逃税的分布在很大程度上取决于一国的地理与制度环境。
Abstract
Exploiting unique datasets covering over 29,000 tax evaders in the Netherlands, we investigate the distribution of tax evasion and its implications for the measurement of wealth inequality. Tax evasion is concentrated at the top of the wealth distribution with over 10% of the wealthiest 0.01% of households – the “super rich” – evading taxes. At the top, households evade around 8% of their true tax liability. The “merely rich” (P90-P99.9) own 67% of hidden wealth, while the “super rich” account for only 7%. Consequently, the correction for offshore wealth has a modest effect on top wealth shares. We describe a number of explanations for the distribution of tax evasion by Dutch households: low-cost tax evasion opportunities in neighbouring countries for the “merely rich”, sophisticated forms of tax evasion for, low effective tax rates on and migration to low tax jurisdictions by the “super rich”. Taken together, these explanations suggest that the distribution of tax evasion strongly depends on a country’s geographical and institutional settings.