Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/59041 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
Finanzwissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge No. 62
Publisher: 
Universität Potsdam, Lehrstuhl Finanzwissenschaft, Potsdam
Abstract: 
In the history of economic thoughts the problem of a just tax rate structure has played an important role. The paper reconsiders the discussions of the last two centuries and sheds additional light on the concrete tax schedules using the more recent methods of tax theory. Even if the substitution effects which play an important role in the theory of optimal taxation are neglected, the slope in the diminishing marginal utility of income causes tax rate structures reaching from accelerated progression to delayed regression. Interestingly the principle of equal relative sacrifice combined with a Bernoulli utility function yields a delayed progression, which is connected with a negative income tax.
Subjects: 
income tax
sacrifice principle
tax rate schedule
cardinal utility function
JEL: 
H21
H24
D31
B13
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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