Improving Cash Flow Corporate Taxation (CFCT) and the Z-Tax (ZT) Approach

Abstract

This paper proposes a method to improve the cash flow corporate tax and in particular to make it better applicable to financial corporations. This takes the S-CFCT – which is a tax on net flows to shareholders - proposed by the 1978 Meade Committee a step further and allows us to tax ‘pure profits’ on debt as well as equity. The other adjustment is to avoid negative tax receipts when cash flows are net inward and replace these with a rebate, which is adjusted upwards over time. The rebate offsets tax when it falls due. This also provides a mechanism to deal with corporations which accumulate cash and don’t distribute, which is a serious issue for the S-CFCT. I call this the corporate Z-tax as it mimics the mechanism provided under the personal Z-tax (as described in Working Paper 6/2019).