The Barcelona Institute of Economics (IEB), jointly with the Barcelona Provincial Council, has just presented the IEB Report 2/2023 “Mobility and taxes”. Coordinated by Alejandro Esteller-Moré, professor of economics at the University of Barcelona (UB), the document deals with taxpayer mobility, i.e., the ability of taxpayers to change location for tax purposes, and the challenge that this represents for current tax systems.

The IEB Report 2/2023 was presented in an online event where the three main papers that comprise it were discussed. The first paper, by Professor Mathilde Muñoz (UC Berkeley), presents evidence that demonstrates how tax differentials in labour income determine the international mobility of factors, describes the consequences of inequalities, and discusses optimal policies for a globalized world.

Professor John D. Wilson of Michigan State University is the author of the second paper, which describes some recent models and empirical work on taxation and mobility in the United States. It focuses on the income taxes that state and local governments collect from residents or workers located within their borders.

Finally, Isabel Z. Martínez, professor at the KOF Swiss Economic Institute, devotes her paper to addressing tax competition at subnational or local level. She does so by examining the fiscal changes made by Obwalden, a small Swiss canton located in the centre of the country, which reduced the tax pressure on the most affluent taxpayers without differentiating according to the nature of their income or their professional status.