November 2019

Why taxes on pensioners in Germany have risen up to 500 percent since 2010

The tax burden on pensioners has increased fivefold within ten years in some cases, according to figures released by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday. For example, new pensioners now have to pay €430 in income tax per year on a monthly gross pension of €1500, compared with €79 in 2010. The figures were released on Wednesday, as part of an inquiry submitted to the Federal Ministry of Finance by Die Linke. For an individual with a monthly gross...

October 2019

Effects of Taxes and Safety Net Pensions on Life-Cycle Labor Supply, Savings and Human Capital: The Case of Australia

By Michael P. Keane, Fedor Iskhakov In this paper we structurally estimate a life-cycle model of consumption/savings, labor supply and retirement, using data from the Australian HILDA panel. We use the model to evaluate effects of the Australian aged pension system and tax policy on labor supply, consumption and retirement decisions. Our model accounts for human capital accumulation via learning by doing, as well as wealth accumulation and decumulation over the life cycle, uninsurable wage risk, credit constraints, a...

August 2018

Population Aging, Social Security and Fiscal Limits

By Burkhard Heer (University of Augsburg; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)), Vito Polito (Cardiff Business School) & Michael Wickens (University of Cardiff; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)) We study the sustainability of pension systems using a life-cycle model with distortionary taxation that sets an upper limit to the real value of tax revenues. This limit implies an endogenous threshold dependency ratio, i.e. a point...

July 2018

The Taxation of Pensions

By Robert Holzmann & John Piggott Theoretical and policy perspectives on the taxation of pension, viewed in an international context.Policy makers and academic researchers have been preoccupied in recent decades with the design of pension schemes and effective pension system reform. Relatively little attention has been given to the taxation of pensions and, more broadly, the provision of retirement income. In this book, experts from a range of countries explore the interconnection. Their contributions are especially timely, given recent demographic...