Tax Treatment of Owner Occupied Housing and Wealth Inequality

Tax Treatment of Owner Occupied Housing and Wealth Inequality PDF Author: Sang-Wook (Stanley) Cho
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In the U.S., mortgage interest deductibility provides a financial incentive for home ownership over renting as well as an incentive to 'over-consume' housing since houses are not fungible. Home-ownership is also often promoted as a safe means of wealth creation. We construct and calibrate a quantitative general equilibrium lifecycle model with home-ownership and mortgage decisions to investigate the degree to which the wealth inequality in the United States is driven by the home mortgage interest deduction and the untaxed nature of imputed rents from owner-occupied housing. As the tax treatment of housing will disproportionately create tax savings for the top deciles of the income distribution, we quantify how the tax deductibility contributes to the heavily skewed distribution of wealth in the United States using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances. Although the tax treatment of owner occupied housing alone is unlikely to produce the extreme wealth concentration at the far right tail of the distribution, we argue that it is re-enforced by a bequest motive. We find that removing mortgage interest deductibility and taxing imputed rents reduces the Gini coefficient by 0.04 points, caused by a re-allocation of wealth from the top 10 percentiles to the bottom 50 percentiles of the wealth distribution.

Tax Treatment of Owner Occupied Housing and Wealth Inequality

Tax Treatment of Owner Occupied Housing and Wealth Inequality PDF Author: Sang-Wook (Stanley) Cho
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In the U.S., mortgage interest deductibility provides a financial incentive for home ownership over renting as well as an incentive to 'over-consume' housing since houses are not fungible. Home-ownership is also often promoted as a safe means of wealth creation. We construct and calibrate a quantitative general equilibrium lifecycle model with home-ownership and mortgage decisions to investigate the degree to which the wealth inequality in the United States is driven by the home mortgage interest deduction and the untaxed nature of imputed rents from owner-occupied housing. As the tax treatment of housing will disproportionately create tax savings for the top deciles of the income distribution, we quantify how the tax deductibility contributes to the heavily skewed distribution of wealth in the United States using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances. Although the tax treatment of owner occupied housing alone is unlikely to produce the extreme wealth concentration at the far right tail of the distribution, we argue that it is re-enforced by a bequest motive. We find that removing mortgage interest deductibility and taxing imputed rents reduces the Gini coefficient by 0.04 points, caused by a re-allocation of wealth from the top 10 percentiles to the bottom 50 percentiles of the wealth distribution.

Taxation and the Owner Occupied Housing Market

Taxation and the Owner Occupied Housing Market PDF Author: Michael Ball
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Home ownership
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description


Taxes and the User Cost of Capital for Owner-occupied Housing

Taxes and the User Cost of Capital for Owner-occupied Housing PDF Author: Patric H. Hendershott
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Capital levy
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Owner-occupied housing is said to be favored in the tax code because mortgage interest and property taxes can be deducted in the computation of one's income tax base in spite of the fact that the returns from owner- occupied housing = not taxed. The special tax treatment reduces the user cost of capital for owner-occupied homing. The issue treated in this paper is the measurement of the tax rate to be employed in the user cost calculations. It is argued that different tax rates am appropriate for the tenure choice and quantity-demanded decisions, and that these values depend on the detailed tax position of the household and the method of finance. Average 1977 tax rates for households in different income ranges are calculated using the NBER TAXSIM microeconomic data file on individual tax returns.

The Income Tax Treatment of Owner-occupied Housing

The Income Tax Treatment of Owner-occupied Housing PDF Author: Paul Edward Merz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Housing
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description


Income Tax Provisions Affecting Owner-occupied Housing

Income Tax Provisions Affecting Owner-occupied Housing PDF Author: James M. Poterba
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Housing
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
The mortgage interest deduction, the property tax deduction, the unique treatment of capital gains on owner-occupied homes, and the absence of taxation on imputed rent from owner-occupied homes all influence the effective cost of housing services. They also affect federal income tax revenues and the distribution of income tax liabilities. We draw on household-level data from the 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances to analyze how several potential reforms would affect incentives for housing consumption as well as the distribution of income tax burdens. Our analysis recognizes that changing the mortgage interest deduction would induce changes in household financial behavior. We estimate that repealing the mortgage interest deduction in 2003 would have raised income tax revenues by $72.4 billion in the absence of any portfolio adjustments, but by only $61.9 billion if homeowners responded by drawing down a limited set of financial assets to partially replace their mortgage debt. The revenue effects of changing the property tax deduction similarly depend on how state and local governments alter their mix of revenue instruments in response to federal tax reform. Our results underscore the importance of recognizing behavioral responses when calculating the revenue costs of income tax provisions relating to owner-occupied housing.

OECD Tax Policy Studies Housing Taxation in OECD Countries

OECD Tax Policy Studies Housing Taxation in OECD Countries PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264862684
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 143

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Book Description
Housing Taxation in OECD Countries provides a comparative assessment of housing tax policies in OECD countries and identifies options for reform. The study starts with an overview of recent housing market trends and challenges and an analysis of the distribution of housing assets.

The Income Tax Advantage to Owner-occupancy

The Income Tax Advantage to Owner-occupancy PDF Author: Ronald John Sepanik
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Home ownership
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description


The Preferential Income Tax Treatment of Owner-occupied Housing

The Preferential Income Tax Treatment of Owner-occupied Housing PDF Author: James R. Follain
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Home ownership
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description


The Impact of the Federal Income Tax on Investment in Housing

The Impact of the Federal Income Tax on Investment in Housing PDF Author: Frank De Leeuw
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Housing
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description


Top Heavy

Top Heavy PDF Author: Edward N. Wolff
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Book Description
Once considered the land of opportunity, it is thought that America now has a gap between the haves and the have-nots that is much wider than in Europe, and that the concentration of wealth is at its highest point since World War II. This book places the distribution of household wealth in the USA in a historical and international context. The book aims to establish long-term trends of American wealth inequality and compares them with those of the UK, Sweden, and France. It then points out that a majority of OECD countries have a wealth tax, and explores the potential benefits and costs of a wealth tax in the US along the lines of levies that many European nations charge.