Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
通过家族企业规避遗产税
Inheritance Tax Avoidance Through The Family Firm
摘要
This paper shows that family firms serve as vehicles for inheritance tax avoidance among the wealthy. Exploiting a tax reform in Catalonia (Spain) that widened the tax gap between favored and non-favored assets, I document a shift in inherited wealth toward family firm equity, consistent with affluent testators channeling private assets into existing firms before death. Heirs unwind these positions when the mandatory holding period expires. Linking inheritance and wealth tax records, I estimate that this behavior reduces combined tax revenues by 10% annually. Preferential treatment of family firms may therefore undermine effective wealth taxation in broad wealth tax systems.
中文摘要
本文表明，家族企业是富人规避遗产税的工具。利用西班牙加泰罗尼亚的一项税制改革——该改革扩大了受优惠资产与非受优惠资产之间的税负差距——我记录了继承财富向家族企业股权转移的现象，这与富裕立遗嘱人在去世前将私人资产注入现有企业的行为相一致。继承人在法定持有期届满后便解除这些持仓。通过关联遗产税与财富税记录，我估计这种行为使合并税收收入每年减少10%。因此，在广泛的财富税体系中，对家族企业的优惠待遇可能削弱有效的财富征税。