Labor Supply Responses to Income Taxation among Older Couples: Evidence from a Canadian Reform

Derek Messacar
Working paper #10
Retirement and Savings Institute – November 2022

A popular summary of the research, condensed onto two pages : Research Highlights

This paper estimates real and avoidance responses to income taxation among older couples in Canada. Using administrative data and exploiting a unique reform affecting tax on pension income, I observe large effects on labor supply using an instrumental variables approach. However, workers respond to compensated changes in their average rather than marginal tax rates, consistent with ‘schmeduling’ behavior. Further, I show that taxable incomes vary with the availability of deductions, offering credible evidence of tax planning within couples. These findings provide new insights into the black box of intra-household labor supply and have implications for estimating excess burden of taxation.