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Pitfalls in the Construction and Use of Effective Tax Rates

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Author Info
David F. Bradford
Don Fullerton

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Abstract

A cost of capital formula can be a useful tool in estimating the effective tax rate on a dollar of marginal investment in a particular industry. There are a number of procedural issues, however, which can greatly affect the resulting estimates. First, tax rate estimates vary with the interest rate used in the formula. Second, the nonlinearity of tax rate formulas may lead to anomalous results. For example, an investment that is actually subsidized may appear to bear a positive tax. Or, tax rates may become arbitrarily large when the project's rate of return approaches zero. Third, effective tax rate results depend on the assumed relationship between inflation and nominal interest rates. Our conclusion is that much sensitivity analysis and specificity are required in studies that undertake to estimate effective tax rates.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 0688.

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Date of creation: Aug 1982
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Publication status: published as Bradford, David F. and Fullerton, Don. "Pitfalls in the Construction and Use of Effective Tax Rates." Depreciation and the Taxation of Income from Capital, edited by Charles R. Hulten, pp. 251-278. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute Press, 1981.
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:0688

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. David F. Bradford, 1981. "The Economics of Tax Policy toward Savings," NBER Reprints 0141, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Fullerton, Don, et al, 1981. "Corporate Tax Integration in the United States: A General Equilibrium Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 677-91, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Don Fullerton & Roger H. Gordon, 1983. "A Reexamination of Tax Distortions in General Equilibrium Models," NBER Working Papers 0673, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Martin Feldstein & Lawrence H. Summers, 1980. "Inflation and the Taxation of Capital Income in the Corporate Sector," NBER Working Papers 0312, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Shoven, John B, 1976. "The Incidence and Efficiency Effects of Taxes on Income from Capital," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 84(6), pages 1261-83, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1981. "On the Almost Neutrality of Inflation: Notes on Taxation and the Welfare Costs of Inflation," NBER Working Papers 0499, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Roger H. Gordon, 1981. "Taxation of Corporate Capital Income: Tax Revenues vs. Tax Distortions," NBER Working Papers 0687, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Martin Feldstein & Lawrence H. Summers, 1979. "Inflation, Tax Rules, and the Long Term Interest Rates," NBER Working Papers 0232, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Raquel Paredes Gómez, 2006. "The Evolving Role of the Corporate Income Tax in Spain," International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0605, International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University. [Downloadable!]
  2. Don Fullerton & Yolanda K. Henderson, 1988. "Long-Run Effects of the Accelerated Cost Recovery System," NBER Working Papers 0828, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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