2025
Schultis, Sebastian
Fiscal Sustainability and the Role of Voluntary Income Tax Filing: Evidence from Germany Diskussionspapier
2025.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Schlagwörter: fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, FZG Diskussionsbeiträge, generational accounting, Steuerpolitik
@workingpaper{Schultis2025c,
title = {Fiscal Sustainability and the Role of Voluntary Income Tax Filing: Evidence from Germany},
author = {Sebastian Schultis},
editor = {Forschungszentrum Generationenverträge},
url = {https://www.fiwi1.uni-freiburg.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Non_filers_FZG.pdf},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-06-18},
urldate = {2025-06-18},
issue = {77},
abstract = {While existing research primarily focuses on tax evasion and tax avoidance, the fiscal relevance of legal filing decisions remains largely unexplored. This paper addresses this research gap by examining the fiscal implications of voluntary (non-)filing of income tax returns, using Germany as a case study. The analysis quantifies the aggregate effects of alternative filing scenarios on average tax payments and the fiscal sustainability of public finances. Based on administrative microdata from the German Wage and Income Tax Statistics, taxpayers with the legal option to forgo filing are first identified. Subsequently, potential revenue effects from changes in filing behavior are estimated and translated into sustainability indicators using a generational accounting framework. Preliminary results suggest that a universal filing of currently non-filing individuals would lead to moderate revenue losses, increasing intertemporal public liabilities by 8.2 percentage points of GDP in the reference year 2023. Moreover, the findings highlight a fundamental trade-off: while voluntary non-filing constitutes a legitimate individual tax strategy, its aggregated effect undermines horizontal equity in taxation. Ensuring this equity, however, comes at the cost of a moderate deterioration in fiscal sustainability.},
keywords = {fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, FZG Diskussionsbeiträge, generational accounting, Steuerpolitik},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}
Schultis, Sebastian; Stramka, Sebastian
Non-Contributory Benefits in Germany – An Analysis Using Generational Accounting Artikel
In: Zeitschrift für Sozialreform/Journal of Social Policy Research, Ausg. Online first, 2025.
Links | BibTeX | Schlagwörter: fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, generational accounting, Generationenbilanzierung, intergenerational burden sharing, Sozialversicherung
@article{Schultis2025b,
title = {Non-Contributory Benefits in Germany – An Analysis Using Generational Accounting},
author = {Sebastian Schultis and Sebastian Stramka},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1515/zsr-2024-0023},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-03-22},
urldate = {2025-03-22},
journal = {Zeitschrift für Sozialreform/Journal of Social Policy Research},
issue = {Online first},
keywords = {fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, generational accounting, Generationenbilanzierung, intergenerational burden sharing, Sozialversicherung},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2024
Raffelhüschen, Bernd; Schultis, Sebastian; Seuffert, Stefan; Stramka, Sebastian
Ehrbarer Staat? Update 2024 der Generationenbilanz. Das Rentenpaket II Artikel
In: Argumente zu Marktwirtschaft und Politik, Bd. 176, 2024.
Links | BibTeX | Schlagwörter: fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, generational accounting, Generationenbilanzierung, Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung
@article{Raffelhüschen2024d,
title = {Ehrbarer Staat? Update 2024 der Generationenbilanz. Das Rentenpaket II},
author = {Bernd Raffelhüschen and Sebastian Schultis and Stefan Seuffert and Sebastian Stramka},
url = {https://www.stiftung-marktwirtschaft.de/inhalte/publikationen/detailansicht/ehrbarer-staat-die-generationenbilanz-das-rentenpaket-ii/},
year = {2024},
date = {2024-09-04},
urldate = {2024-09-04},
journal = {Argumente zu Marktwirtschaft und Politik},
volume = {176},
keywords = {fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, generational accounting, Generationenbilanzierung, Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
2022
Hagist, Christian; Kohlstruck, Tobias (Hrsg.)
Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit Von der ökonomischen Theorie zum politischen Leitbild – Festschrift für Bernd Raffelhüschen zum 65. Geburtstag Sammelband
Vahlen, 2022, ISBN: 978-3800670093.
BibTeX | Schlagwörter: Alterssicherung, Demografie, Demografie und Arbeitsmarkt, demography, fiscal policy, fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, generational account, generational accounting, Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung, Gesundheitspolitik und Pflege, Immobilienmärkte, Migration, Steuerpolitik, Zufriedenheitsforschung
@collection{Hagist2022,
title = {Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit Von der ökonomischen Theorie zum politischen Leitbild - Festschrift für Bernd Raffelhüschen zum 65. Geburtstag},
editor = {Christian Hagist and Tobias Kohlstruck },
isbn = {978-3800670093},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-10-12},
urldate = {2022-10-12},
publisher = {Vahlen},
keywords = {Alterssicherung, Demografie, Demografie und Arbeitsmarkt, demography, fiscal policy, fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, generational account, generational accounting, Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung, Gesundheitspolitik und Pflege, Immobilienmärkte, Migration, Steuerpolitik, Zufriedenheitsforschung},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {collection}
}
Seuffert, Stefan
Anwartschaftsbasierte Projektion der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung in der Generationenbilanzierung Promotionsarbeit
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, 2022, ISBN: 978-3-7489-1428-0.
BibTeX | Schlagwörter: Alterssicherung, COVID-19, fiscal policy, fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, intergenerational burden sharing
@phdthesis{Seuffert2022b,
title = {Anwartschaftsbasierte Projektion der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung in der Generationenbilanzierung},
author = {Stefan Seuffert},
isbn = {978-3-7489-1428-0},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-08-31},
urldate = {2022-08-31},
volume = {3},
publisher = {Nomos-Verlag},
institution = {Zugl.: Freiburg, Univ., Diss., 2022},
school = {Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg},
keywords = {Alterssicherung, COVID-19, fiscal policy, fiscal sustainability, Fiskalische Nachhaltigkeit, intergenerational burden sharing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}
Wimmesberger, Florian; Seuffert, Stefan
Myopic Fiscal Policy during the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Intergenerational Burden Artikel
In: German Politics, 2022.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Schlagwörter: COVID-19, fiscal policy, fiscal sustainability, generational account, intergenerational burden sharing
@article{Wimmesberger2022,
title = {Myopic Fiscal Policy during the COVID-19 Pandemic and its Intergenerational Burden},
author = {Florian Wimmesberger and Stefan Seuffert},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644008.2022.2056594},
doi = {10.1080/09644008.2022.2056594},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-04-01},
urldate = {2022-04-01},
journal = {German Politics},
abstract = {The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected global social and economic activities. While German economic output has declined dramatically, the German federal government’s reactions to the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic have resulted in an unprecedented public deficit. Leading politicians urge repaying the debts induced by the pandemic, as this rather myopic fiscal policy raises questions regarding fiscal sustainability. This study addresses policymakers who are designing amortisation solutions; employing the method of generational accounting provides fundamental insights into the effects of diverse amortisation scenarios on intergenerational burden sharing. The results demonstrate that current and future generations are unequally burdened depending on the period, instrument and amortisation target. These findings indicate that a long-term amortisation process initiated promptly after the COVID-19 crisis is crucial for intergenerational equity.},
keywords = {COVID-19, fiscal policy, fiscal sustainability, generational account, intergenerational burden sharing},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}