An outstanding microdatabase for the analysis of income and its distribution is the Income and Consumption Survey (EVS). However, high income above the 35 000 DM household net income per month threshold is not available. In this study, for the first time, distributional consequences of a merging between the EVS and the Income Tax Statistic (EStS) in particular for high income are analyzed.

We start with a description of the Wage and Income Tax Statistic (EStS) as a well suited micro-databasis for income analyses in general and for high income. Our merging strategy uses taxpaying classes divided by household types. After a short description of the merging results according to householdtypes and income brackets, we investigate in particular high incomes with a distributional analysis and a decomposition for the self-employed and the employees. We then characterize rich and non rich households by socioeconomic breakdowns. Finally we analyze the full range income distribution comparing the merged Income Tax Statistic EStS/EVS 1995 with the EVS 1993 considering the household structure via equivalence scales. The concluding remarks emphasize the need for an integrated microdatafile for a targeted economic and social policy.