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The effect of taxes on multinational debt location

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  • Arena, Matteo P.
  • Roper, Andrew H.

Abstract

We provide new evidence that differences in international tax rates and tax regimes affect multinational firms' debt location decisions. Our sample contains 8287 debt issues from 2437 firms headquartered in 23 different countries with debt-issuing subsidiaries in 59 countries. We analyze firms' marginal decisions of where to issue debt to investigate the influence of a comprehensive set of tax-related effects, including differences in personal and corporate tax rates, tax credit and exemption systems, and bi-lateral cross-country withholding taxes on interest and dividend payments. Our results show that differences in personal and corporate tax rates, the presence of dividend imputation or relief tax systems, the tax treatment of repatriated profits, and inter-country withholding taxes on dividends and interest significantly influence the decision of where to locate debt and the proportion of debt located abroad. Our results are robust to firm and issue specific factors and to the effect of legal regimes, debt market development, and exchange rate risk.

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  • Arena, Matteo P. & Roper, Andrew H., 2010. "The effect of taxes on multinational debt location," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 637-654, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:16:y:2010:i:5:p:637-654
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    9. Peter Vaz da Fonseca & Michele Nascimento Juca, 2020. "The Influence of Taxes on Foreign Direct Investment: Systematic Literature Review and Bibliometric Analysis," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 55-77.
    10. Ronald B. Davies & Neill Killeen, 2018. "The Effect of Tax Treaties on Market Based Finance: Evidence using Firm-Level Data," Working Papers 201818, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
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    14. David Yechiam Aharon & Yossi Yagil, 2019. "The Impact of Financial Leverage on the Cost of Equity," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 9(2), pages 175-188.
    15. Thiess Buettner & Michael Overesch & Georg Wamser, 2016. "Restricted interest deductibility and multinationals’ use of internal debt finance," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(5), pages 785-797, October.
    16. Lindner, Thomas & Klein, Florian & Schmidt, Stefan, 2018. "The effect of internationalization on firm capital structure: A meta-analysis and exploration of institutional contingencies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1238-1249.
    17. He, Mengyu & Kang, Kai & Wei, Xuguang & Li, Yongjian, 2023. "Financing strategy of transnational supply chain with vertical shareholding under tax system difference: Creditor or guarantor?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    18. Eidenmüller, Horst & Engert, Andreas & Hornuf, Lars, 2015. "Where do firms issue debt? An empirical analysis of issuer location and regulatory competition in Europe," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 103-115.
    19. Wang, Jin-Meng & Cheng, Teng Yuan, 2023. "Do the differences in legal systems hinder international enterprises’ debt financing?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    20. Devereux, Michael P. & Maffini, Giorgia & Xing, Jing, 2018. "Corporate tax incentives and capital structure: New evidence from UK firm-level tax returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 250-266.
    21. Park, Soon Hong & Suh, Jungwon & Yeung, Bernard, 2013. "Do multinational and domestic corporations differ in their leverage policies?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 115-139.
    22. Lindner, Thomas & Puck, Jonas & Stocco, Giulia, 2023. "Asymmetric risk perception and firm financing in the institutional envelope," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3).
    23. Peter Birch Sørensen, 2017. "Taxation and the optimal constraint on corporate debt finance: why a comprehensive business income tax is suboptimal," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(5), pages 731-753, September.
    24. Dinkel, Andreas, 2015. "Tax attractiveness and the allocation of risk within multinationals," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 189, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.

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