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Where Does Multinational Investment Go with Territorial Taxation? Evidence from the UK

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  • Ms. Li Liu

Abstract

In 2009, the United Kingdom changed from a worldwide to a territorial tax system, abolishing dividend taxes on foreign repatriation from many low-tax countries. This paper assesses the causal effect of territorial taxation on real investments, using a unique dataset for multinational affiliates in 27 European countries and employing the difference-in-difference approach. It finds that the territorial reform has increased the investment rate of UK multinationals by 15.7 percentage points in low-tax countries. In the absence of any significant investment reduction elsewhere, the findings represent a likely increase in total outbound investment by UK multinationals.

Suggested Citation

  • Ms. Li Liu, 2018. "Where Does Multinational Investment Go with Territorial Taxation? Evidence from the UK," IMF Working Papers 2018/007, International Monetary Fund.
  • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2018/007
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    Cited by:

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    2. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2018. "The Consequences of the TCJA's International Provisions: Lessons from Existing Research," CESifo Working Paper Series 7249, CESifo.
    3. Suhee Kim & William Rees & Vathunyoo Sila, 2020. "Do anti‐bribery laws reduce the cost of equity? Evidence from the UK Bribery Act 2010," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3-4), pages 438-455, March.
    4. Holzmann, Carolin & Büttner, Thiess, 2018. "Switching to Territorial Taxation: FDI Effects for Host-Countries of Foreign Subsidiaries," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181555, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Barry Frank, 2019. "Ireland and the changing global foreign direct investment landscape," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 67(3), pages 93-110, August.
    6. Daragh Clancy, 2019. "US corporate tax rate cuts: Spillovers to the Irish economy," Working Papers 38, European Stability Mechanism.
    7. Mr. Nigel A Chalk & Mr. Michael Keen & Ms. Victoria J Perry, 2018. "The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: An Appraisal," IMF Working Papers 2018/185, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Barry Frank & Sun Xiaolu & Hogan Benn F., 2020. "Brexit Damage Limitation: Tariff-Jumping FDI and the Irish Agri-Food Sector," The Irish Journal of Management, Sciendo, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74, August.

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