Corporate Taxation and Intangible Assets: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Trends

Abstract

AbstractThis paper aims to systematically review the relationship between corporate taxation and intangible assets. The author searched the Scopus database for relevant scholarly work published over the period 2010–2020. Articles were screened based on their relation to the study’s objectives, resulting in a selection of 67 articles. A final sample of 15 articles were selected for inclusion in the systematic review. The analysis indicates that the studies primarily explain the role of multinational transfer price aggressiveness, intragroup transfer price, and arm’s length principles in investigating the relationship between corporate taxation and intangible assets. The findings suggest that the previous studies should consider the benefits associated with firms’ profit shifting behavior rather than explaining the negative implications that could be mitigated by ensuring transparency in the taxation system. The findings would aid in the development of effective global tax administration to investigate this topic in the context of developing and emerging economies. This paper includes a review of the available literature in order to give researchers and practitioners with useful recommendations and insights, as well as to identify certain research gaps that need to be investigated.KeywordsCorporate taxationIntangible assetsMultinationalsLiterature review