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Cross-Country Comparisons of Corporate Income Taxes

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  • Kevin S. Markle
  • Douglas A. Shackelford

Abstract

To our knowledge, this paper provides the most comprehensive analysis of firm-level corporate income taxes to date. We use publicly available financial statement information for 11,602 public corporations from 82 countries from 1988 to 2009 to estimate country-level effective tax rates (ETRs). We find that the location of a multinational and its subsidiaries substantially affects its worldwide ETR. Japanese firms always faced the highest ETRs. U.S. multinationals are among the highest taxed. Multinationals based in tax havens face the lowest taxes. We find that ETRs have been falling over the last two decades; however, the ordinal rank from high-tax countries to low-tax countries has changed little. We also find little difference between the ETRs of multinationals and domestic-only firms. Besides enhancing our knowledge about international taxes, these findings should provide some empirical underpinning for ongoing policy debates about the taxation of multinationals.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin S. Markle & Douglas A. Shackelford, 2011. "Cross-Country Comparisons of Corporate Income Taxes," NBER Working Papers 16839, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16839
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Petr Procházka, 2020. "Jurisdictions with lowest effective tax rates in the post-BEPS landscape - CbCR evidence and implications," European Financial and Accounting Journal, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2020(1), pages 33-52.
    2. Imeda Tsindeliani & Sebastian Kot & Evgeniya Vasilyeva & Levon Narinyan, 2019. "Tax System of the Russian Federation: Current State and Steps towards Financial Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(24), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Keller, Sara & Schanz, Deborah, 2013. "Measuring tax attractiveness across countries," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 143, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    4. Dyreng, Scott D. & Hanlon, Michelle & Maydew, Edward L. & Thornock, Jacob R., 2017. "Changes in corporate effective tax rates over the past 25 years," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 441-463.
    5. Anastasia Kraft, 2014. "What Really Affects German Firms' Effective Tax Rate?," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 5(3), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Overesch Michael, 2016. "Steuervermeidung multinationaler Unternehmen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 129-143, July.
    7. Giorgia Maffini, 2012. "Territoriality, Worldwide Principle, and Competitiveness of Multinationals: A Firm-level Analysis of Tax Burdens," Working Papers 1210, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    8. Dyreng, Scott D. & Lindsey, Bradley P. & Markle, Kevin S. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 2015. "The effect of tax and nontax country characteristics on the global equity supply chains of U.S. multinationals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 182-202.
    9. Vitols, Sigurt, 2021. "Board Level Employee Representation and Tax Avoidance in Europe," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Ahead-of-, pages 1-1.
    10. Elisabeth Bustos-Contell & Salvador Climent-Serrano & Gregorio Labatut-Serer, 2017. "Offshoring in the European Union: a Study of the Evolution of the Tax Burden," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 11(2), June.
    11. Paulo Jorge Varela Lopes Dias & Pedro Miguel Gomes Reis, 2018. "The relationship between the effective tax rate and the nominal rate," Contaduría y Administración, Accounting and Management, vol. 63(2), pages 23-24, Junio.
    12. Keller, Sara & Schanz, Deborah, 2013. "Tax attractiveness and the location of German-controlled subsidiaries," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 142, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    13. Quentin Arnaud & Guillaume Dumas, 2020. "Lutter contre l’évasion fiscale : efficacité des dispositifs de reporting du projet BEPS," Post-Print hal-03948542, HAL.
    14. Huber, Hans-Peter & Maiterth, Ralf, 2019. "Steuerbelastung deutscher Kapitalgesellschaften von lediglich 20 % - Fakt oder Fake News?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 246, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    15. Cheng Lai & Meiting Lu & Yaowen Shan, 2013. "Has Australian financial reporting become more conservative over time?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(3), pages 731-761, September.
    16. Brender,Anton & Pisani, Florence & Gagna, Emile, 2012. "The Sovereign Debt Crisis: Placing a curb on growth," CEPS Papers 6951, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    17. C. S. Agnes Cheng & Peng Guo & Chia‐Hsiang Weng & Qiang Wu, 2021. "Innovation and Corporate Tax Planning: The Distinct Effects of Patents and R&D," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 621-653, March.
    18. repec:col:000093:012622 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Dyreng, Scott D. & Lindsey, Bradley P. & Thornock, Jacob R., 2013. "Exploring the role Delaware plays as a domestic tax haven," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 751-772.
    20. Schanz, Deborah & Feller, Anna, 2014. "Wieso Deutschland (fast) keine BEPS-Bekämpfung braucht," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 171, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    21. Mai Dao & Chiara Maggi, 2018. "The Rise in Corporate Saving and Cash Holding in Advanced Economies: Aggregate and Firm Level Trends," IMF Working Papers 2018/262, International Monetary Fund.

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    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • K34 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Tax Law
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting

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