IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/vfsc15/113121.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does Exchange of Information Between Tax Authorities Influence Multinationals' Use of Tax Havens?

Author

Listed:
  • Braun, Julia
  • Weichenrieder, Alfons

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, countries offering tax systems that facilitate international tax avoidance and evasion have been facing growing political pressure to comply with the internationally agreed standards of exchange of tax information. Using data of German investments in tax havens, we find evidence that the conclusion of a bilateral tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) is associated with fewer operations in tax havens and the number of German affiliates has on average decreased by 46% compared to a control group. This suggests that firms invest in tax havens not only for their low tax rates but also for the secrecy they offer.

Suggested Citation

  • Braun, Julia & Weichenrieder, Alfons, 2015. "Does Exchange of Information Between Tax Authorities Influence Multinationals' Use of Tax Havens?," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113121, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc15:113121
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/113121/1/VfS_2015_pid_512.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruce A. Blonigen & Lindsay Oldenski & Nicholas Sly, 2019. "The Differential Effects of Bilateral Tax Treaties," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Foreign Direct Investment, chapter 7, pages 235-263, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    3. Thomas Hemmelgarn & Gaëtan J.A. Nicodème & Gaëtan J.A. Nicodeme, 2009. "Tax-Co-ordination in Europe: Assessing the First Years of the EU-Savings Taxation Directive," CESifo Working Paper Series 2675, CESifo.
    4. Peter Egger & Mario Larch & Michael Pfaffermayr & Hannes Winner, 2006. "The impact of endogenous tax treaties on foreign direct investment: theory and evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(3), pages 901-931, August.
    5. Ronald B. Davies & Pehr‐Johan Norbäck & Ayça Tekin‐Koru, 2009. "The Effect of Tax Treaties on Multinational Firms: New Evidence from Microdata," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 77-110, January.
    6. Ai, Chunrong & Norton, Edward C., 2003. "Interaction terms in logit and probit models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 123-129, July.
    7. Vittorio Grilli, 1989. "Financial Markets and 1992," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 20(2), pages 301-324.
    8. Bruce A. Blonigen & Ronald B. Davies, 2004. "The Effects of Bilateral Tax Treaties on U.S. FDI Activity," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 11(5), pages 601-622, September.
    9. Niels Johannesen & Gabriel Zucman, 2014. "The End of Bank Secrecy? An Evaluation of the G20 Tax Haven Crackdown," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 65-91, February.
    10. James R. Hines & Eric M. Rice, 1994. "Fiscal Paradise: Foreign Tax Havens and American Business," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 109(1), pages 149-182.
    11. Katarzyna Bilicka & Clemens Fuest, 2014. "With which countries do tax havens share information?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(2), pages 175-197, April.
    12. Huizinga, Harry & Nicodeme, Gaetan, 2004. "Are international deposits tax-driven," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1093-1118, June.
    13. Michelle Hanlon & Edward L. Maydew & Jacob R. Thornock, 2015. "Taking the Long Way Home: U.S. Tax Evasion and Offshore Investments in U.S. Equity and Debt Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(1), pages 257-287, February.
    14. Johannesen, Niels, 2014. "Tax evasion and Swiss bank deposits," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 46-62.
    15. Shafik Hebous, 2014. "Money at the Docks of Tax Havens: A Guide," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 70(3), pages 458-485, September.
    16. Paul L. Baker, 2014. "An Analysis of Double Taxation Treaties and their Effect on Foreign Direct Investment," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 341-377, November.
    17. Mintz, Jack M. & Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2010. "The Indirect Side of Direct Investment: Multinational Company Finance and Taxation," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262014491, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Fangying Xu, 2019. "Are tax havens good? Implications of the crackdown on secrecy," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 147-160, July.
    2. Gavrilova, Evelina & Polakova, Aija, 2018. "Stairway to (Secrecy) Heaven: Market Attitudes towards Secrecy Shopping," Discussion Papers 2018/19, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    3. Fernando, Garcia Alvarado & Antoine, Mandel, 2022. "The network structure of global tax evasion evidence from the Panama papers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 660-684.
    4. repec:ces:ifodic:v:12:y:2015:i:4:p:19149984 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2020. "Do Multinational Firms Use Tax Havens to the Detriment of Other Countries?," CESifo Working Paper Series 8275, CESifo.
    6. Jan Rohan & Lukáš Moravec, 2017. "Tax Information Exchange Influence on Czech Based Companies' Behavior in Relation to Tax Havens," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 65(2), pages 721-726.
    7. Dutt, Verena & Spengel, Christoph & Vay, Heiko, 2017. "Der EU-Vorschlag zum Country-by-Country Reporting im Internet: Kosten, Nutzen, Konsequenzen," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 172786.
    8. Müller, Raphael & Spengel, Christoph & Vay, Heiko, 2020. "On the determinants and effects of corporate tax transparency: Review of an emerging literature," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-063, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Olbert, Marcel & Spengel, Christoph & Weck, Stefan, 2023. "Multinational firms in tax havens: Corporate motives, regulatory countermeasures, and recent statistics," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-036, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    10. Shafik Hebous & Alfons J. Weichenrieder, 2015. "What Do We Know about the Tax Planning of German-based Multinational Firms?," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(4), pages 15-21, 01.
    11. Jones, Chris & Temouri, Yama, 2016. "The determinants of tax haven FDI," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 237-250.
    12. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2023. "Overview of the Characteristics of Tax Haven," CESifo Working Paper Series 10411, CESifo.
    13. Kunka Petkova & Andrzej Stasio & Martin Zagler, 2020. "On the relevance of double tax treaties," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(3), pages 575-605, June.
    14. Shafik Hebous & Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Alfons Weichenrieder, 2015. "What Do We Know about the Tax Planning of German-based Multinational Firms?," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(04), pages 15-21, January.
    15. Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2016. "Panama & Co: Implikationen für die Steuerpolitik," SAFE Policy Letters 52, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Menkhoff, Lukas & Miethe, Jakob, 2019. "Tax evasion in new disguise? Examining tax havens' international bank deposits," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 176, pages 53-78.
    2. Maarten van 't Riet & Arjan Lejour, 2014. "Ranking the Stars: Network Analysis of Bilateral Tax Treaties," CPB Discussion Paper 290, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    3. Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Fangying Xu, 2019. "Are tax havens good? Implications of the crackdown on secrecy," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 147-160, July.
    4. Casi, Elisa & Spengel, Christoph & Stage, Barbara M.B., 2020. "Cross-border tax evasion after the common reporting standard: Game over?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    5. Maarten van 't Riet & Arjan Lejour, 2014. "Ranking the Stars: Network Analysis of Bilateral Tax Treaties," CPB Discussion Paper 290.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    6. Kunka Petkova & Andrzej Stasio & Martin Zagler, 2020. "On the relevance of double tax treaties," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(3), pages 575-605, June.
    7. Vincent Bouvatier & Gunther Capelle-Blancard & Anne-Laure Delatte, 2017. "Banks Defy Gravity in Tax Havens," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-03101505, HAL.
    8. Overesch Michael, 2016. "Steuervermeidung multinationaler Unternehmen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 129-143, July.
    9. Maarten ‘t Riet & Arjan Lejour, 2018. "Optimal tax routing: network analysis of FDI diversion," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(5), pages 1321-1371, October.
    10. D’Avino, Carmela, 2023. "Counteracting offshore tax evasion: Evidence from the foreign account tax compliance act," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    11. Langenmayr, Dominika & Zyska, Lennard, 2023. "Escaping the exchange of information: Tax evasion via citizenship-by-investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    12. Petr Janský & Jan Láznička & Miroslav Palanský, 2021. "Tax treaties worldwide: Estimating elasticities and revenue foregone," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 359-401, May.
    13. Niels Johannesen & Gabriel Zucman, 2014. "The End of Bank Secrecy? An Evaluation of the G20 Tax Haven Crackdown," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 65-91, February.
    14. Hoang Ha Nguyen Thi & Alfons Weichenrieder, 2023. "Tax Haven Welfare and the Crackdown on Secrecy: Evidence from Night Light Emissions," CESifo Working Paper Series 10721, CESifo.
    15. Casi, Elisa & Nenadic, Sara & Orlic, Mark Dinko & Spengel, Christoph, 2019. "A call to action: From evolution to revolution on the Common Reporting Standard," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-035, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, revised 2019.
    16. Becker, Johannes & Wilson, John D., 2023. "Tax competition with two tax instruments — and tax base erosion," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    17. Abdullah Kumas & Daniel L. Millimet, 2018. "Reassessing the effects of bilateral tax treaties on US FDI activity," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 42(3), pages 451-470, July.
    18. Katarzyna Bilicka & Clemens Fuest, 2014. "With which countries do tax havens share information?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(2), pages 175-197, April.
    19. Pierce O’Reilly & Kevin Parra Ramírez & Michael A. Stemmer, 2021. "Exchange of Information and Bank Deposits in International Financial Centres," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 239(4), pages 27-69, November.
    20. Luo, Changyuan & Luo, Qin & Zeng, Shuai, 2022. "Bilateral tax agreement and FDI inflows: Evidence from Hong Kong investment in the Mainland China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc15:113121. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfsocea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.