Taxing the rich policy, evasion behavior, and portfolio choice: A sustainability perspective

In the spring of 2016, the tax-evasion revelations from the Panama Papers regarding the international clients of Mossack Fonseca shook the financial world. This article sheds light on whether taxing the rich will generate the taxevasion effect, if the evasion behavior will affect the portfolio choice, and finally, the broader economic impacts of such tax evasion. The main insights are: (1) the evidence from the Panama Papers demonstrates that the supply of tax evasion services explains that evasion behavior rises steeply with wealth; (2) we also affirm that higher tax rates induce greater tax evasion activity and explain why the taxation system introduced by Hollande, which levied high tax on millionaires, failed in France; and (3) the primary components of billionaires' asset allocation involve adequately weighting long-term stock holdings. Finally, these findings provide some evidence on the sustainability of taxing the rich and the sustainable investing behavior of the ultra-wealthy.