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Investment Incentives in Closely Held Corporations and Finland's 2005 Tax Reform

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  • Kari, Seppo
  • Hietala, Harri

Abstract

This paper analyses the effects of the recent Finnish income tax reform on the behaviour of a closely held corporation (CHC) and its owners. The main elements of the reform are cuts in corporate and capital income tax rates and the replacement of the current full imputation system by a partial double taxation of distributed profits. Considerable exemptions are applied to relieve the taxation of dividends from CHCs. The analysis indicates that the change in the CHC's cost of capital depends on the marginal tax rate (MTR) of the owner. In the case of a high-MTR entrepreneur, the cost of capital increases or is retained at the present level while at lower MTRs the cost of capital may well decrease. The latter observation is due to the increase in the tax rate gap between earned income and capital income. Thus the reform does not remove the earlier reported nonneutralities of the Finnish tax system. The reform also improves the position of wage income as a form of compensation. This will cushion the effect of the dividend tax changes on the CHC's cost of capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Kari, Seppo & Hietala, Harri, 2006. "Investment Incentives in Closely Held Corporations and Finland's 2005 Tax Reform," Discussion Papers 392, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:fer:dpaper:392
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    File URL: https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/148372
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bond, Stephen R. & Devereux, Michael P., 2003. "Generalised R-based and S-based taxes under uncertainty," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(5-6), pages 1291-1311, May.
    2. Vesa Kanniainen & Seppo Kari & Jouko Ylä-Liedenpohja, 2007. "Nordic dual income taxation of entrepreneurs," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 14(4), pages 407-426, August.
    3. Paolo M. Panteghini, 2001. "Dual income taxation : the choice of the imputed rate of return," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 5-13, Spring.
    4. Kari, Seppo, 1999. "Dynamic Behaviour of the Firm Under Dual Income Taxation," Research Reports 51, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    5. Tobias Lindhe & Jan Södersten & Ann Öberg, 2004. "Economic Effects of Taxing Different Organizational Forms under the Nordic Dual Income Tax," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 11(4), pages 469-485, August.
    6. Mervyn A. King, 1974. "Taxation and the Cost of Capital," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(1), pages 21-35.
    7. Fane, G., 1987. "Neutral taxation under uncertainty," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 95-105, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Stenkula, Mikael & Wykman, Niklas, 2022. "The Taxation of Closely Held Firms: The Achilles Heel of the Dual Income Tax System Reconsidered," Working Paper Series 1434, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    2. Seppo Kari & Hanna Karikallio & Jukka Pirttilä, 2009. "The Impact of Dividend Taxation on Dividends and Investment: New Evidence Based on a Natural Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 2756, CESifo.
    3. Paweł Gajewski, 2011. "Doświadczenia z reform fiskalnych w okresie tworzenia Unii Gospodarczej i Walutowej," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 1-2, pages 43-62.
    4. Annette Alstadsater & Knut Reidar Wangen, 2010. "Small Corporations' Income Shifting through Choice of Ownership Structure - a Norwegian Case," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 73-87, Autumn.
    5. Kari, Seppo & Ropponen, Olli, 2016. "A Note on the Effects of Income-Splitting under Dual Income Tax," Working Papers 81, VATT Institute for Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Capital income taxation; dual income tax; tax reform; Macroeconomic policy; Talouspolitiikka; Taxation; Verotus; Taxation and Social Transfers; Julkisen talouden rahoitus ja tulonsiirrot;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm

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