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Journal Article American Economic Journal: Economic Policy February 2010 The Optimal Taxation of Height: A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution |
Should the income tax include a credit for short taxpayers and a surcharge for tall ones? The standard Utilitarian framework for tax analysis answers this question in the affirmative. Moreover, a plausible parameterization using data on height and wages implies a substantial height tax: a tall person earning $50,000 should pay $4,500 more in tax than a short person. One interpretation is that personal attributes correlated with wages should be considered more widely for determining taxes. Alternatively, if policies such as a height tax are rejected, then the standard Utilitarian framework must fail to capture intuitive notions of distributive justice.
Keywords: Taxation; Wages; Personal Characteristics;
Mankiw, N. Gregory, and Matthew C. Weinzierl. "The Optimal Taxation of Height: A Case Study of Utilitarian Income Redistribution." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 2, no. 1 (February 2010): 155–176.
