Discussion Papers no. 395

House ownership and taxes

The household portfolio is dominated by a small number of assets; primarily housing and mortgages. We compare data on actual portfolios of Norwegian households with estimated optimal portfolios, using traditional financial theory. We find actual portfolios to be close to the portfolio indicated by a mean-variance frontier, based on four assets and estimated under assumptions of short sale constraints. This result is sustained even in a no-tax regime. To induce a substantial change from housing to equity, taxation of the consumption stream from housing is needed. An alternative; taxation of capital gains from housing investment; could actually increase the relative holding of housing.

Om publikasjonen

Tittel

House ownership and taxes

Ansvarlige

Torfinn Harding, Andreas Benedictow, Haakon O. Aa. Solheim

Serie og -nummer

Discussion Papers no. 395

Utgiver

Statistics Norway

Emne

Discussion Papers

Antall sider

29

Målform

Engelsk

Om Discussion Papers

Discussion papers comprise research papers intended for international journals and books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article as it may include intermediate calculations, background material etc.

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