Resumen de Property tax and scal discipline in OECD countries

Andrea F. Presbitero, Agnese Sacchi, Alberto Zazzaro

• This paper investigates the e ects of the property tax on national scal discipline in a sam- ple of OECD countries over the period 1985-2006. Our results show that a larger share of property taxes in total tax revenues is associated with a smaller primary de cit-to-GDP ratio. Moreover, a greater reliance on property taxation at a sub-national level contributes to straighten scal discipline, regardless of the degree of tax decentralization in a coun- try. Our results suggest that institutional reforms towards scal decentralization should be mostly focused on the design of the local tax structure in order to promote country's scal sustainability.