Swedish Taxation since 1862: An Overview

Magnus Henrekson () and Mikael Stenkula

No 1052, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics

Abstract: This paper examines the development of taxation in Sweden from 1862 to 2013. The examination covers six key aspects of the Swedish tax system: the taxation of labor income, capital income, consumption, inheritance and gift, wealth and real estate. The importance of these taxes varied greatly over time and Sweden increasingly relied on broad-based taxes (such as income taxes and general consumption taxes) and taxes that were less visible to the public (such as payroll taxes and social security contributions). The tax-to-GDP ratio was initially low and relatively stable, but from the 1930s, the ratio increased sharply for 50 years. Towards the end of the period, the tax-to-GDP ratio declined significantly. The analysis is based on a project conducted at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) and provides both a unique length and breadth of the development of a national tax system.

Keywords: Keywords: Income tax; Wealth tax; Inheritance and gift tax; Consumption tax; Real estate tax; Tax reforms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H20 H71 N43 N44 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2015-01-02, Revised 2015-09-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-acc, nep-his, nep-pbe and nep-pub
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Swedish Taxation: Developments since 1862, Henrekson, Magnus, Stenkula, Mikael (eds.), 2015, chapter 1, pages 1-33, Palgrave Macmillan.

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1052

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