Capital gains taxes and the realization of capital gains and losses. Evidence from German income tax data

This paper analyzes the influence of capital gains taxation on the decision to realize capital gains and losses when gains are tax-exempt after a certain holding period. Theory predicts that high marginal tax rates incentivize investors to realize taxable losses. In contrast, the propensity to reali...

ver descrição completa

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor: Jacob, M. (Martin)|||/items/b4c80971-c877-4230-904c-54573540e482
Formato: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Navarra
Repositorio:Dadun. Depósito Académico Digital de la Universidad de Navarra
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:dadun.unav.edu:10171/120187
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/10171/120187
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Capital gains taxation
Capital losses
Capital gains
Income tax
Lock-in effect
Descrição
Resumo:This paper analyzes the influence of capital gains taxation on the decision to realize capital gains and losses when gains are tax-exempt after a certain holding period. Theory predicts that high marginal tax rates incentivize investors to realize taxable losses. In contrast, the propensity to realize taxable short-term capital gains decreases in the marginal tax rate. Using two stratified 10% random samples of all German income tax declarations filed in 2001 and 2004, the paper provides robust evidence for this prediction. The marginal tax rate has a significant and positive (negative) effect on the investor's propensity to realize capital losses (gains).