Historical Distribution Tables and Tax Reforms in Germany

Tasks

The research project aims to map historical distribution tables (factor income, income distribution before and after taxes) and reforms in the tax system for Germany and to prepare them as a basis for studying the effects of (tax) policy reforms. Distributional tables are already available for other countries within the framework of the Distributional National Accounts (DINA) methodology, whereas no independent results exist for Germany yet. The project investigates the extent to which the DINA methodology can also make an important contribution to Germany. In particular, the challenges on the way to the application of the DINA concept for Germany will be investigated with regard to the necessary data basis.

Results

Within the scope of this project, the classification of the System of National Accounts (SNA) was transferred to the German national accounts. Based on these results, a consistent DINA can be compiled for Germany in the future. To ensure complete coverage of households' primary income, various data sources must be combined in a suitable manner. In addition to the combination of data from tax statistics and household surveys discussed so far, the combination of administrative tax and labor market data is particularly suitable for this purpose.