By Montserrat Botey, post-doctoral researcher at LIEPP, SciencesPo and Guillaume Chapelle, lecturer in economics at the University of Cergy, affiliated to the THEMA laboratory

This post, which reproduces the main conclusions of an article published in Economie et statistique, examines the potential redistributive impact of taxing imputed rents, i.e. rents that owners would have to pay if they were renting out their property. The amount of net imputed rents is estimated at 7% of net national income, with their non-taxation constituting hidden tax expenditure of up to 11 billion euros a year. The article concludes that non-taxation mainly benefits the oldest and wealthiest households, and is therefore the largest public expenditure on owner-occupiers.

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