Do the rich pay their taxes early?

Andreas M. Fischer and Lucca Zachmann

Issue
2018-08

Pages
41

JEL classification
D14, D30, E21, E41, H31

Keywords
Early tax payment, demand for interest credit on early tax payment

Year
2018

This paper examines the effects of household income on interest credits from early tax payments. The hypothesis that the richest households from high-income municipalities pay their income taxes early is tested in a demand specification for interest credit for early tax payments. The empirical analysis uses regional data from 170 municipalities in the canton of Zurich from 2007 to 2013. A one standard deviation increase in the ratio for household income between the mean and the 75th percentile increases the ratio of interest tax credit to total taxes by 5%. The finding that high-income households pay their taxes early supports the view that institutional arrangements supporting early tax payments make the (effective) tax system more regressive for high-income households.