To Marry or Not to Marry: Tax Is the Question

In: Public budgeting & finance, Band 24, Heft 3, S. 98-123

Abstract

In this article, we estimate the impact of the Spanish personal income tax, and other variables, on the decision to marry, with the study covering the period 1979 to 2001. There are three aspects that characterize this article: first, it is the first time this topic has been examined in Spain; second, we take into account the whole duration of the marriage when constructing the tax variables, not only the year of marriage; and third, we include the cost of housing among the explanatory variables, because this can play an important and statistically significant role in the marriage decision in Spain.