Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/145525 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
Beiträge zur Jahrestagung des Vereins für Socialpolitik 2016: Demographischer Wandel - Session: Demographic Change and the Macroeconomy II No. D24-V3
Publisher: 
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft, Kiel und Hamburg
Abstract: 
This paper investigates the role of taxation in individual annuitization decisions by exploiting differences in relative taxation between the one-off lump sum payment and the life-long annuity. In a first step taxes are imputed for both the lump sum and the annuity for each individual whose retirement choice is recorded in an administrative dataset from a large Swiss pension fund. Using a variety of measures of taxation we show that taxes can explain a significant part of the variation in annuity rates. Furthermore, exploiting kinks in the tax schedule within a regression discontinuity framework we find evidence for tax optimization strategies by individuals. The results of this paper suggest that individuals react strongly to tax incentives when making retirement choices.
JEL: 
D91
H24
J26
Document Type: 
Conference Paper

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