The elasticity of taxable income of high earners: evidence from Hungary

The paper studies how high-income taxpayers responded to the introduction of the “extraordinary tax on individuals” in Hungary in 2007. The study is based on a panel of tax returns containing information on 10 % of tax filers from 2005 and three subsequent years. We estimate the elasticity of taxable income with respect to the marginal net-of-tax rate and find that the taxable income of Hungarian high earners is moderately responsive to taxation: the estimated elasticity is about 0.24. We also find evidence for a sizeable income effect. The estimated effect is not caused by income shifting.