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Jakob Wegmann

@jakobwegmann.bsky.social

856 followers 1.6K following 59 posts

Applied Labor and Public Economist, Postdoc @rfberlin.bsky.social jakobwegmann.github.io

Posts Replies Media

Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Aber bspw ist ja klar geurteilt, dass sich aus "Alle Menschen sind vor dem Gesetz gleich" ableitet, dass auch bei Nicht-Verheirateten eine Pauschalisierung der Arbeitszimmerkosten in gewissen Umständen grundgesetzwidrig ist. www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/E...

Urteilstext zur steuerlichen Berücksichtigung eines häuslichen Arbeitszimmers

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

In almost half of the couples, the woman is in the unfavourable withholding tax class. As a result, there is a gender gap in withholding taxes. And this gender gap in withholding taxes may partly explain the huge gender gap that you find in the valuation of gross earnings.

Gender Gap in withholding taxes induced by the choice of withholding tax schedules.

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

It can definitely not be the main “missing” variable that could explain differences between Germany and Sweden! Nevertheless, it could be an interesting variable to have a look at. Depending on the choice of withholding tax schedule, the withholding tax rates in Germany are extremely different.

Withholding tax schedule in Germany. For example, at an income of 4000€, employees pay 12% in the favorable withholding tax schedule and 32% in the unfavorable withholding tax schedule.

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Two core findings: 1️⃣ Only a small share is aware that withholding tax schedules are unimportant for income taxes ➡️ Misinterpretation of a change in withholding taxes 2️⃣ Many households do not pool their income ➡️ Cut in withholding taxes increases disposable income for women and decreases tax refund

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Estimating a DiD, conditioning on dense demographic and income controls: Effect is increasing over time and then stabilizing. Explanations: ➡️ People need time to realize change in withholding taxes ➡️ Labor market frictions

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Idea is to measure: How much are the differences in income growths between the two groups driven by the change in withholding tax rates?

Descriptive evidence that income growth is larger for women in unfavorable withholding tax class than in default withholding tax class after the reform. Similar pre-trends.

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Identification of causal effect: Reform changing withholding tax differently for two groups

Reform is larger for women in unfavorable withholding tax class than for women in default withholding tax class

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

The choice results in a gender gap in withholding taxes that is only induced by the choice of households!

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Possible to study in German tax system: Married individuals can pick different withholding tax classes. Withholding taxes differ a lot by tax class!

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Hello #EconSky! 📢Excited to share my #JMP 📢 It provides a missing piece to understand how people react to income taxation. Tldr: By changing tax pre-payments governments can - with almost no costs - increase perceived work incentives of secondary earners and reduce the gender gap. Thread below👇🧵

To collect income taxes, almost all countries require employers to withhold monthly tax prepayments which are then fully credited against the final income tax liabilities of their employees. Despite being a fundamental component of income taxation systems worldwide, the impact of these withholding taxes on labor supply is poorly understood. We investigate their importance in the context of married couples in Germany where the withholding tax liability can be redistributed between spouses. We exploit a reform that reduced the withholding tax for some married women more than for others, while inducing no differences in income taxes. Using administrative data for the full population of German taxpayers, we estimate an elasticity of labor income with respect to the withholding tax eight years after the reform of 0.14. Additional evidence from a self-conducted survey suggests imperfect understanding of the tax system and limited pooling of resources within the household as the main mechanisms. As the majority of couples shift parts of the withholding tax liability from the husband to the wife, our results suggest that the increased withholding tax liability of married women contributes to their low labor supply. This highlights the need for governments to be aware of the distortion of labor supply incentives when the design of withholding taxes does not match actual income tax incentives.

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 13/10/2024

Zu Punkt 2 liegt gerade dieser Aufsatz (noch ungelesen) auf meinem Schreibtisch. Viele der Vorschläge würden ja einer (vermeintlichen?) Verfassungswidrigkeit scheitern.

Bild von "Die Steuerfreiheit des Existenzminimums vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht"

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Jakob Wegmann @jakobwegmann.bsky.social · 30/07/2024

Die FAZ berichtet in einem tollen Artikel (danke Michel Krasenbrink und @neuscheler.bsky.social !) über unsere Forschung, die zeigt, dass verheirate Frauen aufgrund des deutschen Steuerklassensystems weniger arbeiten. #Steuerklasse #GenderGap #EconSky @lenardsimon.bsky.social, Tim Bayer

Ein Artikel der FAZ zur Wirkung des deutschen Lohnsteuersystems auf die Arbeit von verheirateten Frauen

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