Mariona Mas, PhD student of the Barcelona School of Economics (IEB), defended her thesis entitled  “Essays on Wealth Taxation, Avoidance and Evasion among the Rich” on 24 January 2020 and  awarded with the distinction Cum Laude. It was held at aula Ramón y Cajal lecture room of the  University of Barcelona (UB) and before a tribunal composed of Joel Slemrod, professor at the  University of Michigan; Claus Thustrup Kreiner, professor at the University of Copenhagen; and Dirk  Foremny, researcher from the IEB and professor of the UB.

The thesis has been directed by Drs. Alejandro Esteller-Moré y José María Durán-Cabré, both from the  UB and researchers of the IEB as well. The thesis contributes in providing answers to the behavior of taxpayers in relation to wealth taxes and examines the impact of the reforms of the inheritance tax  implemented in Catalonia in the years 2010 and 2011, and the reintroduction of the tax on wealth in the  year 2011. The thesis also studies the tax amnesty implemented in 2012 by quantifying the emerging  wealth and analyzing the detectability of tax evaders.