The gender (tax) gap in parental transfers. Evidence from administrative inheritance and gift tax data

This study examines how inheritance and gift taxation, in combination with gendered parental transfer behavior, exacerbate gender wealth inequalities. Tax systems can help reproduce gender differences if men and women benefit differently from tax exemptions. This might happen when men and women receive different types of assets, only some of which are tax exempt. To investigate gendered parental transfer behavior and gendered tax rates, we draw on German administrative data on inheritance and gift taxation. Women are less likely than men to receive parental transfers, the value of such transfers tend to be lower, and women tend to receive different types of asset. Moreover, we identify a gender tax gap of 2% for inheritances and 22% for gifts. Our analyses suggest that men benefit more from tax exemptions on business assets. This study adds the tax system as another factor implicated in the reproduction of gender wealth inequalities.