Premature deaths, accidental bequests and fairness Premature deaths, accidental bequests, and fairness*
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2022
- ISIDORE Id: 10670/1.d4598f...
- halshs: halshs-03454842
- doi: 10.1111/sjoe.12478
- WOS: 000778881200001
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info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/sjoe.12478
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
Mots-clés
Mortality Accidental bequests Optimal taxation Compensation OLG models D - Microeconomics H - Public Economics J - Labor and Demographic EconomicsSujets proches
Legacies--Law and legislation Bequests Intestacy Descents Intestate succession Inheritance and succession--Law and legislation Hereditary succession Law of succession Bequests Succession, Intestate Descent and distributionCiter ce document
Marc Fleurbaey et al., « Premature deaths, accidental bequests, and fairness* », HAL SHS (Sciences de l’Homme et de la Société), ID : 10.1111/sjoe.12478
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Résumé
While little agreement exists regarding the taxation of bequests in general, there is a widely held view that accidental bequests should be subjected to a confiscatory tax. We reexamine the optimal taxation of accidental bequests by introducing a concern for compensating individuals for a premature death. Assuming that individuals care about what they leave to their offspring, we show that, whereas the 100 % tax view holds under the utilitarian criterion, the ex post egalitarian criterion (giving priority to the worst-off ex post) implies subsidizing accidental bequests so as to compensate the short-lived. In a second-best setting, compensating the short-lived justifies taxing total bequests at a rate increasing with the age of the deceased. Finally, when the model is extended to an intergenerational setting, accidental bequests cannot be used as a redistributive tool anymore, so that ex post egalitarianism rejoins the 100 % tax view.
