DPA Research and Policy Virtual Seminar Series – David Merriman
September 30, 2020
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Do Graduated Rate Tax Systems Lead To More Frequent Tax Rate Changes?
By David Merriman
Forty-three states impose a state personal income tax, but their tax systems take varied forms. In 2002 eight states had a flat rate income tax and the remaining 35 plus DC had graduated rate systems in which marginal tax rates varied with taxable income. Illinois will vote on a constitutional amendment allowing it to switch from a flat to a graduated rate system in November 2020. Scholars and advocates sometimes link the propensity to increase tax rates to the form of the tax system. I collect comprehensive data on US states’ tax rates and tax rate changes and show that tax rate changes, and especially tax rate increases, were relatively rare in both flat and graduated rate tax systems during the period 2003 to 2019. I develop a model demonstrating that rational, self-interested decisionmakers that benefit from tax rate increases will not necessarily be more likely to increase taxes in graduated rate, as compared to flat rate tax systems. I perform empirical analyses to predict the size and probability of tax rate changes and find no evidence that the nature of the tax system (flat or graduated) influences either their frequency or magnitude.
Topic: DPA Research and Policy Seminar Series
Time: Sep 30, 2020 12:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://uic.zoom.us/j/83573685074?pwd=TWFLYjk5QnIvcWFuYlJHeXRhb1I0dz09
Meeting ID: 835 7368 5074
Passcode: 1gj.2YCw
Date posted
Aug 27, 2020
Date updated
Sep 28, 2020