Taxing Housework

Abstract:     
This article examines the tax policy rationale for excluding non-market household labor from the tax base and argues that the conventional rationals no longer withstand scrutiny. The article goes on to argue that it is possible to include non-market household labor into the tax base, while at the same time avoiding the imposition of costs upon the (mostly) women who supply the labor. Moreover, and mort important, tax policy reform along these line would increase householder laborers' access to public retirement benefits and signal the important of the work to society generally.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 77

Keywords: tax policy, taxation, household labor, retirement security

JEL Classification: K34, K39

Accepted Paper Series