Corporate Effective Tax Rates Research Articles

Economic Factors, Tax Policy, and Corporate Effective Tax Rates: The Case of India

Economic Factors, Tax Policy, and Corporate Effective Tax Rates: The Case of India

Tax Harmony: The Promise and Pitfalls of the Global Minimum Tax

The rise of globalization has become a double-edged sword for countries seeking to implement a beneficial tax policy. On one hand, there are increased opportunities for attracting foreign capital and the benefits that increased jobs and tax revenue brings to a society. However, there is also much more tax competition among countries to attract foreign capital and investment. As tax competition has grown, effective corporate tax rates have continued to be cut, creating a “race-to-the-bottom” issue. In 2021, 137 countries forming the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS passed a major milestone in reforming international tax by successfully introducing the framework of a global minimum corporate tax, known as Pillar Two. It aims to set a floor for corporate tax rates with various corrective measures so that multinational enterprises’ income will be taxed once in either source country or residence country at a substantive tax rate. Hence, Pillar Two is the first implementation of the “single tax principle” at the global level. Because Pillar Two requires an unprecedented amount of coordination among countries, it is important to understand Pillar Two thoroughly so that countries can maneuver the challenges of implementation, while still enjoying the ultimate benefit that would come from this global tax harmony. This Article analyzes the issues of tax competition and why most countries in the world have come to the conclusion that a global minimum tax is needed. This Article explains the single tax principle as the theoretical underpinning of Pillar Two, breaks down the principles and policies that comprise Pillar Two, and anticipates what promise and pitfalls passage of the global minimum tax will bring. Because the basis of Pillar Two is a direct extension of the Global Intangible Low Tax Income (GILTI) and Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, it is reasonable to anticipate that the global minimum tax will be considered a success if it is implemented by all the G20 countries.

The double burden of maldistribution: a descriptive analysis of corporate wealth and income distribution in four unhealthy commodity industries

ABSTRACT The health and ecological harms created and spread by firms active in many unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) have received considerable attention from the public health community. However, less focus has been paid to analysing the distribution of wealth and income – important social and economic determinants of health – by these industries. This study aimed to examine long-term trends in wealth and income distribution by publicly listed corporations active in four UCIs: fossil fuels; tobacco; ultra-processed foods; and alcohol. Quantitative analysis of a range of data was conducted for firms listed on stock exchanges in the United States (US). Wealth and income distribution metrics were analysed at the industry level, including effective corporate tax rates and shareholder value ratios. The equity ownership structures and investor location of 20 of the largest firms were also explored. Since the 1980s, US-listed firms in the examined UCIs have distributed much less of their wealth and income to governments and much more to shareholders and investors mostly based in high-income countries. The study provides evidence that firms active in UCIs create a ‘double burden of maldistribution’: their externalised social and ecological harms disproportionately affect disadvantaged population groups and governments in low- and middle-income countries; whilst, simultaneously, they are increasingly transferring wealth and income to a group over-represented by a small and privileged elite. The identified distributive injustice warrants increased policy attention.

Pareto-Improving Minimum Corporate Taxation

The recent international agreement on a minimum effective corporate tax rate marks a profound change in global tax arrangements. The appropriate level of that minimum, however, has been, and remains, extremely contentious. This paper explores the strategic responses to a minimum tax, which—the policy objective being to change the rules of tax competition game--—are critical for assessing the design and welfare impact of, and prospects for, this fundamental policy innovation. Analysis and calibration plausibly suggest sizable scope for minima that are Pareto-improving, benefiting low as well as high tax countries, over the uncoordinated equilibrium.

Effect of corporate income tax on investment decisions of Indian manufacturing firms

This study is an attempt to empirically analyse the effect of corporate income tax on investment of manufacturing firms in India during 2005–2019, using the standard static panel model estimation techniques. It is found that the effective corporate tax rate has a negative and significant impact on the corporate investment. Moreover, the estimated effective tax elasticity is relatively low as compared to the magnitude found in other countries. The adverse impact of tax on investment is higher in private firms than in public firms and higher in pre-economic crisis period than in post-crisis period. The effective rate increases with age and size of firms. It is our hope that these results will be useful to policymakers and other stakeholders to take appropriate strategies to design the corporate tax policy such that it will not hinder business investment in India.

Multinational corporations and tax havens: evidence from country-by-country reporting

A growing body of economics literature shows that multinational corporations (MNCs) shift their profits to tax havens. We contribute to this evidence by comparing a range of available data sets focusing on US MNCs, including country-by-country reporting data, a full sample of which has been released in December 2019 for the first time. With each of the data sets, we analyse the effective tax rates that US MNCs face in each country and the amount of profits they report. Using country-by-country reporting data, we have been able to establish that lower effective corporate tax rates are associated with higher levels of reported profits when compared with different indicators of real economic activity. This corresponds to the notion that MNCs often shift profits to countries with low effective tax rates—without also shifting substantive economic activity. Consequently, we identify the most important tax havens for US MNCs as countries with both low effective tax rates and high profits misaligned with economic activity.

Panel Data Analysis on Corporate Effective Tax Rates of Some Listed Large Firms in Nigeria

Corporate effective tax rates (ETR) of large Nigerian listed firms during the new tax regime as well as the influence of firm size, leverage, return on asset, capital intensity, and inventory intensity on corporate effective tax rate was investigated. The study aims to examine the influence of some corporate tax attributes in some selected large public listed firms within and across Nigeria with avoidance of corporate effective tax rates (ETR). The data used in the study was extracted from the 2019 Nigeria Annual Financial reports. The data were collected from the period 2012 to 2018, the period where Nigeria imposed a new tax regime on the current year assessment system (effective from the year 2012). Pooled ordinary least square (POLS), fixed effect and random effect regression were applied to the data, findings from the study revealed that the random effect regression model was preferred for result interpretation. It was also discovered that; firm size (FSIZE), return on assets (ROA), and inventory intensity (INVINT) have a positive and significant influence on corporate effective tax rates (ETR) avoidance. Firm leverage (LEV) and capital intensity (CAPINT) on the other hand has an insignificant inverse influence on effective tax rates (ETR). Hence, this study suggested that firm size (FSIZE), return on assets (ROA), and inventory intensity (INVINT) is the major variable that positively influences the corporate effective tax rates (ETR) the listed large firms in Nigeria.

Determinants of corporate effective tax rates: evidence from the euro area

PropósitoEl propósito de este artículo es investigar el efecto de los determinantes del tipo impositivo efectivo (TIE) del impuesto de sociedades de las empresas que cotizan en la zona del euro.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueUtilizando un panel de 2,870 compañías cotizadas en el período 2005–2016, los autores utilizan el Método de Momentos Generalizados (GMM) para estimar modelos globales para tres grupos de países y modelos específicos para los seis países seleccionados: Alemania, España, Francia, Italia, Bélgica y Grecia.ResultadosLos resultados confirman que el TIE tiene diferentes determinantes en función de los países analizados. Entre antiguos y nuevos miembros se evidencia una relación significativamente positiva con el apalancamiento y negativa con el tamaño y la rentabilidad financiera. Sin embargo, la rentabilidad económica muestra una relación estadísticamente positiva en los nuevos, pero negativa en los antiguos. En el análisis individual, Alemania y España mantienen esta asociación negativa con el ROA, pero Bélgica y Grecia evidencian un efecto positivo. El efecto del ciclo económico sí resulta estadísticamente relevante, de forma negativa en Alemania, pero positiva en Bélgica y Grecia.Originalidad/valorEste artículo hace una novedosa contribución al debate actual sobre la necesidad de armonizar del impuesto de sociedades en la Unión Europea. Por primera vez, se considera el grupo de países cuya moneda común es el euro con gran nivel de detalle, así como el impacto de su ampliación y la comparativa individual entre sus principales países. Las autoridades europeas deberían tener en cuenta las específicas diferencias encontradas en los determinantes del ETR, tanto entre antiguos y nuevos miembros como por países, porque dificultan la adopción de medidas de armonización que limiten la competencia fiscal entre países comunes.

Investment allocation in Slovakia and Ukraine in terms of effective corporate tax rates

Since countries differ in their traditions, cultures or different tax systems, investment allocation can be a difficult task for some investors. Effective tax rates present indicators of the real corporate tax burden and consider the impact of all legislation elements. This paper deals with the effective taxation of selected intangible and tangible assets. The analysis will be processed by calculating average and marginal tax rates (EATR and EMTR) according to the methodology of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW). Then, the relationship between these two tax rates was calculated, and the relationship was identified that evaluates the most optimal criteria between location, amount and source of investment financing. The analyzed period is the year 2020. The analysis is a quantification of the amount of the tax rates for a hypothetical investment. The next step in the analysis is a calculation of the tax shield, which expresses tax saving of investment and the economic income of project, including taxation, and means financial benefit for an investor. The results have shown that Ukraine is a better choice for the investor, as this country reached lower values of effective tax rates for all other types of assets, except land, than Slovakia. In the case of own funds financing, there is a difference between 10.7% and 11.6%, and in the case of debt financing, the difference ranged from 10.8% to 11.7%. The exception was land, the rates for which were higher than in Slovakia by 0.70%. This paper has confirmed the research hypothesis that Ukraine is a more tax-attractive country than Slovakia. AcknowledgmentThis research was supported by VEGA project No. 1/0430/19 “Investment decision-making of investors in the context of effective corporate taxation”.

Can tax competition boost demand? Causes and consequences of the global race to the bottom in corporate tax rates

Corporate tax rates have been consistently falling around the world for decades now. This paper aims to explain the causes and consequences of this ‘global race to the bottom’. In particular, the author wishes to test the hypothesis that this race to the bottom is driven by demand-boosting corporate tax competition, where, contrary to traditional Kaleckian theory, lower corporate taxes may positively affect demand through increased investment due to multinational enterprises (MNEs) that seek higher net profits through (re)locating in low-tax jurisdictions. In order to do so, the author builds a general theory of the effect of average effective corporate tax rates (AECTRs) on MNE location. This theory is used to justify the addition of a tax-sensitive foreign direct investment channel in the investment function of a canonical Kaleckian model. As a result, this paper determines the conditions under which a country may be ‘tax-competition-led’, where lowering AECTRs increases demand through increased MNE investment and in spite of the negative effect on government expenditure given a balanced budget. The findings of this paper are that it is possible for an economy to be tax-competition-led, though it is unlikely in many cases given the existence of a coordination problem that lessens or nullifies the effect of lowering AECTRs when many countries do so simultaneously. The author refers to this problem as the ‘paradox of tax competition’, since, like other fallacies of composition commonly identified in Post-Keynesian thought, this is a phenomenon where the benefits of one country acting alone are reduced or eliminated if other countries act the same way at the same time. Based on this model, crude but nonetheless informative estimates are given that indicate that the race to the bottom has had a negative effect on demand in the vast majority of OECD countries. In this sense, the author finds that the persistence of policymakers to continue to compete on corporate taxes ‘imprudent’. Model-consistent policy recommendations are offered, chief among which are tax coordination or, failing that, technical changes in how individual countries collect corporation tax.

Simulating corporate tax rate at Laffer curve's peak using microdata

This paper uses administrative panel micro-data of Israeli firms between 2006 and 2015 to simulate corporate tax rates at Laffer Curve's peak. We first propose a theoretical model where three effects interact: a mechanical effect, a dynamic effect - related to opening and closing firms - and an efficiency effect related to profits. We run regressions for opening and closing firms, and for profits, as a function of the effective corporate tax rate, together with a bunch of additional explanatory variables. Using the coefficients obtained from these regressions we estimate the tax rate at the Laffer Curve's peak between 26 and 38 percent – which is within the range shown in the literature based on macro data. Concerning branches, we found that food services is characterized by a low tax rate at the peak of the Laffer Curve (14 percent) while manufacturing is characterized by a high one (39 percent).

Changes in corporate effective tax rates during three decades in Japan

This study compares changes in corporate effective tax rates (ETR) between firms in Japan and the United States. Using a sample of U.S. firms from 1988 to 2016, the declining trend in corporate cash and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) ETR measures is initially confirmed. However, different from the results of cash ETR documented in Dyreng et al. (2017), GAAP ETR declines more rapidly for large U.S. multinational firms than for purely domestic firms, suggesting that multinational firms have better opportunities to implement cross-border tax-saving strategies. For Japanese firms, after controlling for the decrease in the statutory tax rate, there is no obvious time trend in GAAP ETR for multinational firms, but small and medium domestic firms experience a significant decline in ETR. Similar to Dyreng et al., we do not find any evidence that the time-series trend in ETR can be explained by firm characteristics of Japanese or U.S. firms.

Post Tax Reform and Corporate Effective Tax Rate: Evidence from Tunisia

This study examines the impact of the tax reform on corporate effective tax rate (ETR) and firm-specifics in Tunisia for the post tax reform period (after the fiscal year 2014). The corporate effective tax rate is a component by major firm-specific characteristics, especially firm size, capital structure (leverage), inventory intensity, capital intensity… The ETR provides information about the tax burdens and can be used as a political instrument to boost the economic reliance. The post tax reform period reflects the impact of lower corporate tax rate on the firm characteristics. The sample consists of 112 firm-year observations from 16 listed companies in Tunis Stock Exchange (known Bourse de Tunis- BVMT) covering seven years from 2010 to 2016.Our result indicates that the tax reform had a significant impact only on the inventory variable but no significant results on the others firm characteristics for the post-tax reform period. These findings urge the Tunisian’s tax authority to reformulate the corporate tax system.

Saving the Planet by Cutting Corporate Taxes: A Comparative Case Study Analysis

This Article examines corporate tax trends in the context of the press­ing global issue of climate change. Multinational corporations play a huge role in the global economy. We argue that the role of for-profit corporations should not be limited to making short-term profits for their shareholders. If corporations benefit from corporate tax reduc­tions, some of that benefit should be shared with society. This Article explores the connection between climate change and corporate activity through a new lens: corporate tax policy. It expands the current inquiry about the impact of taxes on corporations by connecting that discussion to the impact of multinational corporate activity on the global environment. To date, while research has been done on the interaction between corporate tax avoidance and corporate social responsibility, no research has examined the connection between the global trend of corporate tax rate cuts and the increasingly important influence of corporate environmental social responsibility. This Article begins to fill that gap by making a qualitative inquiry into the interac­tion between effective corporate tax rates, corporate tax cuts, and cor­porate social responsibility.

Effective Corporate Income Tax Rates: Southern and Northern Economies of the European Union

In the present study, we attempt to investigate the determinants of the effective corporate tax rate of companies of the European Union (EU) discriminating between northern and southern economies. We adopt in our analysis the period after the outbreak of the crisis in the Eurozone up today including some years before 2009 in the assessed period. Our empirical investigation is based on three alternative approaches to effective income tax rate based on accounting information. We investigate the determinants of ECITR assessing two sub-samples of firms from all the aforementioned industrial sectors for 16 member countries of Europe. The first sub-sample consists of firms from 12 member countries of "North" European Union and the second sub-sample consists of firms from 4 member countries of "South" European Union. The analysis covers the period 2004-2016. Estimation results point out that the effective corporate income tax rate is variously affected by firm-specific determining factors for both northern and southern economies. The relation between ECITR and determining factors is ascertained to be less significant (sensitive) during the pre-crisis period in comparison with the respective empirical findings after the outburst of the economic crisis in the European Union. Empirical findings indicate that effective corporate income tax rate is more vulnerable to financial leverage for southern economies in comparison to the northern economies signaling financing structure differences between the two EU-country groups. Finally, there is evidence that there is an indisputable and positive coexistence between business profitability and tax burden.

The Impact of Effective Corporate Tax Rates on Investment

There exists an intense debate about the effects of corporate tax cuts on the formation of private capital in the real sector. This paper studies the investment impact of the effective fiscal burden of firms during the period 1995-2014. To this end, in a first step national accounts data is used to calculate backward looking average Effective Corporate Tax Rates (ECTR) for 73 developed and developing countries. In a second step, a dynamic panel approach is employed to estimate the impact of the ECTR on private gross fixed capital formation and foreign direct investment inflows. The obtained results indicate that: (i) ECTR not only tend to be much lower than statutory corporate tax rates, but also have different dynamics over time; and (ii) there exists no clear statistically significant negative relationship between ECTR and private investment. Instead, private capital formation and FDI inflows are rather explained by economic growth, the persistence of investment spending, trade openness, and the quality of institutions. This finding is robust when alternative effective corporate tax rate measures or statutory corporate tax rates are considered

Impact of Transfer Pricing for Special Tax Adjustment Measures on Corporate Effective Tax Rate in China

Corporate tax avoidance activities are prevalent in many countries, some of which have formulated anti-tax avoidance policies to curb such activities. China amended the chapter on special tax adjustment in the Enterprise Income Tax Law in 2008 and implemented Measures for Special Tax Adjustment in 2009. This study applies the Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share securities markets in 2005-2015 to investigate whether the implementation of Measures for Special Tax Adjustment has effectively curbed corporate tax avoidance activities and increased income tax costs. The empirical results indicate that company effective tax rates (ETRs) are increased significantly after the implementation of Measures for Special Tax Adjustment. And, companies with greater amounts of goods (or service) related party transactions significantly increased ETRs after the implementation of Measures for Special Tax Adjustment. The Chinese government continues to issue numerous rules focused on transfer pricing to amend Measures for Special Tax Adjustment. Therefore, we recommend that corporations carefully assess relevant transactions to avoid being subject to Measures for Special Tax Adjustment legislation.

Do income taxes affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from European‐listed companies

AbstractThis study explores empirically the effects of corporate income taxes on the incentive to invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. We estimate the relation between CSR ratings and firm‐specific corporate effective tax rates for a large sample of nonfinancial‐listed companies from 15 European countries during 2006–2016. By employing an instrumental variable approach, we find that average effective tax rates are negatively correlated with CSR ratings. Our findings are also consistent under additional tests and robustness checks. We, therefore, can provide suggestive evidence that corporate taxation discourages corporate socially responsible behaviour. At the same time, in a tax policy perspective, our analysis suggests how countries could encourage through the tax system the corporate provision of sustainable investments.

English

This study investigates the determinants of the corporate effective tax rate (ETR) of Italian private (unlisted) companies in 2016 and 2017. Although a large body of research has addressed the issue of the determinants of the ETR, both the Italian context and the private companies have been the object of scant attention in previous studies. To test research hypotheses, as in several previous studies, a pooled cross-sectional OLS model has been adopted. The study shows a statistically significant and negative (positive) association between ETR and firm size, investment in tangible fixed assets, inventories, investments in subsidiaries, affiliates and other companies, and the firm’s profitability (intangible fixed assets and the firm’s indebtedness). Conversely, it shows no statistically significant association between ETR and tangible fixed assets. The financial year in question, the region where companies are located, and the economic sector they belong to, included as control variables, affect the ETR. Italian public policy-makers and Italian and non-Italian economic operators can benefit from the results of the study in order to make more informed future decisions. Key words: Effective tax rate, private companies, Italy.

Corporate Behavior and the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 fundamentally altered United States tax law. TCJA supporters believed that the tax benefits afforded U.S. corporations would incentivize corporations to use their additional after-tax cash in ways beneficial to the U.S. economy. Our study, the first of its kind, uses corporation-by-corporation data from recent public filings to measure how the change in effective corporate tax rate affects various corporate behaviors. We find that the TCJA’s reduction in effective tax rate has no relationship to several corporate actions, including hiring new employees and making capital expenditures, two behaviors predicted by TCJA proponents. We do find, however, a small relationship between change in effective tax rate and both CEO compensation and total value of shares repurchased, two corporate behaviors anticipated by TCJA skeptics.