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The inheritance tax is often seen as an effective tool to reduce wealth inequality, to raise public revenues if needed, and to increase incentives to work by lowering the tax burden on labour, which is especially high in Germany, according to the OECD. The purpose of this paper is therefore to shed light on the question of whether an inheritance tax is a promising tool for fighting wealth inequality without having distorting effects on the economy. For this purpose, firstly, the distributional effects of inheritances on wealth distribution are evaluated for Germany and are then compared with those in Austria and France, using data from the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). A change in the German inheritance tax law in 2009 is further used in a difference-in-difference analysis to identify the behavioural effects of the change in the inheritance tax on the volume of bequests, which are large and robust for different specifications. Secondly, the insight from part one is applied to the design of an inheritance tax reform for Germany. The potential tax revenue of the reform can be estimated by using the data from the inheritance and gift tax statistics. A revenue shift from income to inheritance tax could be used to increase work incentives by cutting the marginal tax rates for the working population. However, it turns out that taxing inheritances will be accompanied by significant behavioural responses of donors via tax planning. Furthermore, the introduction of a flat tax model with a broad tax base would not generate enough additional revenue to foster relevant employment effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study primarily aims to contribute to the ongoing debates on bracket creep and examine whether Germany needs to integrate inflation indexation into its personal income tax system in order to reduce distortions of tax liabilities and additional tax burdens. Germany has continuously flattened the personal income tax rates in the context of a series of tax reforms and modified its tax system. Under the consideration of the major goals of these reforms, this study compares the extent to which previous reform efforts, made in this country since 1958, led to changes in the real, inflation-adjusted average personal income tax burden of single earners in 2014. Furthermore this study examines the changes in progressivity of tax rates over the same period of time, which is measured by the coefficient of residual income progression (CRIP). According to the longterm real view adopted in this study, the evolution of the German personal income tax system made middle-income single earners worse off, while both the lower and higher income groups are significantly better off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We estimate an AIDS for fresh meat in Germany. • We derive price and expenditure elasticities for households overall and by age and. income. • We assess ad valorem and excise tax scenarios to curb climate gas emissions. • Older households are more effected by meat taxes than young households. • Excise taxes are more efficient to reach carbon emission reductions This paper assesses the effect of different meat tax designs in Germany including increasing the value-added tax as well as two climate-gas-emission-sensitive excise tax scenarios. For the simulation study, we first estimate price and expenditure elasticities for fresh meat for different household types using data from the GfK ConsumerScan FreshFood panel over the period 2012–14. The estimated elasticities are used to derive budget and welfare effects for the tax scenarios. A general rise in the value-added tax from 7% to 19% leads to a welfare loss of 0.83 euros per household per month. Disentangling the effect by household group according to income and age shows that low-income and older households experience a higher welfare loss and bear a larger tax burden relative to their income compared to low-income and younger households, respectively. Comparing the different taxation scenarios highlights the comparative efficiency of excise taxes and the importance to consider effects on older households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]