Die Überwindung von Kapitalfehlallokationen durch eine Besteuerung von Sollzinseinkomme

Abstract

Overcoming Misallocations of Capital by Means of a Tax on Potential Interest Earnings

Real existing income taxes presumably cause significant misappropriations of capital funds. These misallocations can largely be traced to the income tax practice, as opposed to the public finance idea of income taxation. Real income taxes commonly do not subject the income equivalent of consumption capital (imputed rent) to taxation. The same is true for some capital income (interest income). By modifying the conventional income tax with a potential interest tax component, the misappropriation of capital funds can be avoided. The modification exists in adding a potential interest income to the conventionally defined income tax base. The potential income equates basically to the capital income that the taxpayer would have earned had he not consumed. The modified income tax tends to combine the efficiency advantages of an expenditure tax roughly with the equity advantages of the income tax. Compared to the expenditure tax it also features further advantages.