Gift and Inheritance Tax with Regard to Wealth Distribution in the Globalization Process

Year 2020, Issue: 63, 1 - 17, 10.12.2020

Şahin Akkaya , Volkan Oğhan

https://doi.org/10.26650/mcd2020-810716

Abstract

It might be argued that gift and inheritance tax can be used as a means of improving the current income and wealth distribution, as inheritance and other wealth transfers have an additional negative effect on the income and wealth distribution. However, as a tax on wealth transfers, the gift and inheritance tax, having a very long history, has not been given enough value for years. It may be assumed that the low share of the revenue derived from gift and inheritance tax in total tax revenue in many countries reflects the decreasing importance of the function attributed to this kind of taxation. However, this does not mean that inheritance and transfer tax is ineffective as a means of redistribution. In fact, the long-term expected positive effects of this tax on reducing the inequalities of wealth and income distribution reveal the importance of recognizing the deserved value of this tax. Fundamentally, gift and inheritance tax, which will be designed to include high tax rates and low exception amounts for equality on a national scale could be a policy tool that is complementary to the positive effects of global justice policies aiming to address the global injustices arising from the conflicting goals of developed and developing countries.

Keywords

Gift and inheritance tax, inheritance, wealth transfers, inequal distribution of wealth, globalization

Küreselleşme Sürecinde Servet Dağılımı Açısından Veraset ve İntikal Vergisi

Abstract

Miras ve diğer servet intikallerinin gelir ve servet dağılımını bozucu ilave bir etki yapması dolayısıyla veraset ve intikal vergisinin, mevcut gelir ve servet dağılımını iyileştirici etki yaratıcı bir biçimde kullanılmasının mümkün olduğu ileri sürülebilir. Ancak karşılıksız servet intikalleri üzerinden alınan ve çok eski bir geçmişe sahip olan veraset ve intikal vergisi, yıllardır pek önemsenmeyen bir vergi konumunda bulunmaktadır. Günümüzde pek çok ülkede veraset ve intikal vergisi gelirlerinin toplam vergi gelirleri içindeki payının çok düşük olmasının bu vergilere yüklenen işlevin azalan önemini yansıttığı da düşünülebilir. İstatistiklere yansıyan fiili durum, veraset ve intikal vergisinin yeniden dağıtım aracı olarak etkisiz olduğu anlamına gelmemektedir. Aslında bu verginin servet ve gelir dağılımı eşitsizliklerini azaltmaya yönelik uzun dönemde beklenen olumlu etkileri bu vergiye hakkettiği değerin verilmesinin önemini ortaya koymaktadır. Doğal olarak, gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülkelerin çatışan amaçlarından kaynaklanan küresel çaptaki adaletsizlikleri hedefleyen küresel adaleti sağlayıcı politikaların yaratabileceği olumlu etkilerin tamamlayıcısı, sorunun ulusal çapta çözümüne yönelik olarak, yüksek vergi oranları ile düşük istisna tutarlarını içerecek şekilde tasarlanacak veraset ve intikal vergisi olabilecektir.

Keywords

Veraset ve intikal vergisi, miras, servet intikalleri, eşitsiz servet dağılımı, küreselleşme

References

• Akalın, G. (1986). Kamu Ekonomisi. Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi.
• Akkaya, Ş. (2002). Küreselleşme ve Vergi Politikası. İ.Ü. İktisat Fakültesi Maliye Araştırma Merkezi Konferansları, 42, 1-27.
• Aksoy, Ş. (2011). Kamu Maliyesi. İstanbul: Filiz Kitabevi.
• Alvaredo, F., Atkinson, A. B., & Morelli, S. (2016). The Challenge of Measuring UK Wealth Inequality in the 2000s. Fiscal Studies, 37(1), 13-33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-5890.2016.12084
• Atkinson, A. B. (1971). The Distribution of Wealth and the Individual Life-Cycle. Oxford Economic Papers, 23(2), 239-254. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.oep.a041192
• Atkinson, A. B. (2015). Inequality - What can be done? Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Beckert, J. (2008). Why Is the Estate Tax so Controversial? Society, 45, 521-528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12115-008-9145-x
• Bentham, J. (1795). Supply Without Burden; or Escheat vice Taxation: Being a Proposal for a Saving of Taxes by an Extension of the Law of Escheat, Including Strictures on the Taxes on Collateral Succession comprised in the Budget of 7th December 1795. Erişim adresi: https://socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/econ/ ugcm/3ll3/bentham/SupplywithoutBurden.pdf
• Blinder, A. S. (1973). A Model of Inherited Wealth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87(4), 608-626. https://doi.org/10.2307/1882027
• Cannan, E. (1948). Wealth: A Brief Explanation of the Causes of Economic Wealth. London: Staples Press Limited.
• Cowell, F. A., Van de gaer, D., & He, C. (2018). Inheritance Taxation: Redistribution and Predistribution. J. A. Bishop, & J. G. Rodríguez (Eds.), Inequality, Taxation and Intergenerational Transmission (pp. 1-13). Emerald Publishing Limited.
• Dalton, H. (1920). Some Aspects of The Inequality of Incomes in Modern Communities. London: George Routledge & Sons.
• Davies, J. B. (1982). The Relative Impact of Inheritance and other Factors on Economic Inequality. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 97(3), 471-498. https://doi.org/10.2307/1885873
• Davies, J. B., & Shorrocks, A. F. (2018). Comparing global inequality of income and wealth. WIDER Working Paper 2018/160, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2018/602-9
• Dobb, M. (1981). Kapitalizm Sosyaliz Az Gelişmiş Ülkeler ve İktisadi Kalkınma (M. Selik Çev.). Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi Yayınları.
• Dworkin, R. (2000). Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality. Cambridge: Harward University Press.
• Halliday, D. (2016). Inheritance and Hypothetical Insurance. W. Waluchow, & S. Sciaraffa (Eds.), The Legacy of Ronald Dworkin (pp. 99-116). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Hunter, M. H. (1921). The Inheritance Tax. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 95, 165-180. https://doi.org/10.1177/000271622109500109
• Jacobson, D. B., Raub, B. G., & Johnson, B. W. (2007). The Estate Tax: Ninety Years and Counting. Statistics of Income, 27(1), 118-128.
• McCaffery, E. J. (1999). Grave Robbers The Moral Case against the Death Tax. Policy Analysis(353), 1-20.
• Meade, J. E. (1993). Efficiency, Equality and the Ownership of Property. J. E. Meade (Eds.), Liberty, Equality and Efficiency (s. 21-81). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Mill, J. S. (1848). Principles of Political Economy. London: John W. Parker.
• Montesquieu. (1989). The Spirit of the Laws. A. M. Cohler, B. C. Miller, & H. S. Stone (Eds.), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Musgrave, R. A., & Musgrave, P. B. (1989). Public Finance in Theory and Practice. Singapore: McGraw-Hill Book.
• OECD, Revenue Statistics - OECD countries: Comparative tables. Retrieved from https://stats.oecd.org
• OECD (2018). The Role and Design of Net Wealth Taxes in the OECD. Paris: OECD Publishing.
• Pedersen, J. (2018). Just inheritance taxation. Philosophy Compass, 13(4), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12491
• Pedersen, J., & Bøyum, S. (2020). Inheritance and the Family. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 37(2), 299-313. https://doi.org/10.1111/japp.12389
• Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the Twenty-First Century. (A. Goldhammer Çev.) Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
• Rawls, J. (1999). A Theory of Justice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Ricardo, D. (1817). On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. London: John Murray.
• Samuelson, P. A. (1948). Economics: An Introductory Analysis. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
• Say, J.-B. (1803). Traite d’economie politique. Paris.
• Shorrocks, A., Davies, J., & Lluberas, R. (2019). Global wealth databook 2019. Credit Suisse Research Institute.
• Simon, L. G. (1925). Inheritance Taxation. New York: Harper & Brothers.
• Smith, A. (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: W. Strahan and T. Cadell.
• Stamp, J. (1926). Inheritance as an Economic Factor. The Economic Journal, 36(143), 339-374. https://doi.org/10.2307/2959788
• Stiglitz, J. E. (2013). The Price of Inequality. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
• Taussig, F. W. (1926). Principles of Economics Volume II. New York: The Macmillan Company.
• Turhan, S. (2020). Vergi Teorisi ve Politikası. İstanbul: Filiz Kitabevi.Wedgwood, J. (1939). The Economics of Inheritance. Middlesex: Penguin Books Limited.
• West, M. (1893). The Theory of the Inheritance Tax. Political Science Quarterly, 8(3), 426-444.
• West, M. (1908). The Inheritance Tax. New York: Columbia University Press.
• White, S. (2008). What (if Anything) is Wrong with Inheritance Tax? The Political Quarterly, 79(2), 162-171. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-923X.2008.00921.x
• Wilhelm, M. O. (1997). Inheritance, Steady‐State Consumption Inequality, and the Lifetime Earnings Process. The Manchester School, 65(4), 466-476. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9957.00076
• Yücelik, Z. M. (1995). Taxation of Bequests, Inheritances, and Gifts. P. Shome (Eds.), Tax Policy Handbook (pp. 188-191). Washington D.C.: International Monetary Fund.