IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0341321.html

Shortcomings of the controlled foreign company legislation concerning foreign tax refund systems

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Kollruss

Abstract

The aim of this study is to demonstrate that the CFC tax rules are legally ineffective in relation to those of foreign countries that operate a tax refund system at the shareholder level of the CFC (e.g., Malta). Under such a tax refund system, the CFC itself is highly taxed, but its shareholder receives a tax refund from the CFC’s country of residence upon profit distribution. Therefore, the research question is that the current CFC rules, owing to their legal structure, cannot effectively cover foreign countries of residence of the CFC that apply a tax refund system at the shareholder level. Using theoretical and legal research, this study shows that CFC taxation is largely ineffective in relation to foreign tax refund systems unless all of a CFC’s shareholders’ tax refunds are included in the calculation of the CFC’s tax burden. To illustrate this phenomenon, a comparative analysis of the CFC legislation in Germany, Austria and South Africa is conducted. The issue of foreign tax refund systems represents a significant challenge, as they have the potential to undermine the efficiency of CFC taxation as a pivotal instrument in the fight against tax avoidance. To solve this problem, a legal framework for the taxation of CFCs in countries with a tax refund system is being developed within this study to strengthen the taxation of CFCs and fight international tax avoidance. This study is a pioneering investigation of the legal efficiency of CFC taxation in the context of foreign jurisdictions that operate a tax refund system at the shareholder level of the CFC. It identifies the fundamental shortcomings of CFC tax law in the context of foreign tax refund systems and proposes legal solutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Kollruss, 2026. "Shortcomings of the controlled foreign company legislation concerning foreign tax refund systems," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 21(2), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0341321
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0341321
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0341321
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0341321&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0341321?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Clifford, Sarah, 2019. "Taxing multinationals beyond borders: Financial and locational responses to CFC rules," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 44-71.
    2. Nora Paulus, 2020. "The Impact of CFC-Rules on Tax Competition," DEM Discussion Paper Series 20-17, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jozef Konings & Catherine Lecocq & Bruno Merlevede, 2022. "Does a tax deduction scheme matter for jobs and investment by multinational and domestic enterprises?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(4), pages 1966-1989, November.
    2. Laudage, Sabine, 2020. "Corporate tax revenue and foreign direct investment: Potential trade-offs and how to address them," IDOS Discussion Papers 17/2020, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    3. 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.
    4. Bodo Knoll & Nadine Riedel, 2020. "Patent Shifing and Anti-Tax Avoidance Legislation," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 17(04), pages 25-29, January.
    5. Gürlek, Elif, 2021. "Corporate Taxation in the U.S. and Canada – A Comparative Analysis," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 6(3), pages 489-506.
    6. Laudage Teles, Sabine & Riedel, Nadine & Strohmaier, Kristina, 2024. "On the effects of anti-profit shifting regulations: A developing country perspective," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    7. Katarzyna A. Bilicka & Michael P. Devereux & İrem Güçeri, 2024. "Tax Policy, Investment and Profit Shifting," NBER Working Papers 33132, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Borrotti, Matteo & Rabasco, Michele & Santoro, Alessandro, 2023. "Using accounting information to predict aggressive tax location decisions by European groups," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(3).
    9. Amendolagine, Vito & De Pascale, Gianluigi & Faccilongo, Nicola, 2021. "International capital mobility and corporate tax revenues: How do controlled foreign company rules and innovation shape this relationship?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Damgaard, Jannick & Elkjaer, Thomas & Johannesen, Niels, 2024. "What is real and what is not in the global FDI network?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    11. Arjan Lejour & Jan Möhlmann & Maarten ’t Riet, 2022. "The immeasurable tax gains by Dutch shell companies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(2), pages 316-357, April.
    12. Martina Baumann & Tobias Boehm & Bodo Knoll & Nadine Riedel, 2020. "Corporate Taxes, Patent Shifting, and Anti-avoidance Rules: Empirical Evidence," Public Finance Review, , vol. 48(4), pages 467-504, July.
    13. Małecka-Ziembińska Edyta & Siwiec Anna, 2020. "Searching for similarities in EU corporate income taxes for their harmonization," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 6(4), pages 72-94, December.
    14. de Mooij, Ruud & Liu, Li, 2021. "At a cost: The real effects of thin capitalization rules," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    15. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2020. "Do Multinational Firms Use Tax Havens to the Detriment of Other Countries?," CESifo Working Paper Series 8275, CESifo.
    16. De Vito, Antonio & Hillmann, Lisa & Jacob, Martin & Vossebürger, Robert, 2025. "Do personal income taxes affect corporate tax-motivated profit shifting?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2).
    17. Michael Overesch & Dirk Schindler & Georg Wamser, 2024. "Design and Consequences of CFC and GILTI Rules: A Review and Potential Lessons for the Global Minimum Tax," CESifo Working Paper Series 11018, CESifo.
    18. Hirofumi Okoshi, 2025. "Attractive target for tax avoidance: trade liberalization and entry mode," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 32(1), pages 238-270, February.
    19. Jaqueline Hansen & Valeria Merlo & Georg Wamser, 2023. "Taxes, Profit Shifting, and the Real Activities of MNEs: Evidence from Corporate Tax Notches," CESifo Working Paper Series 10593, CESifo.
    20. Nora Alice Paulus, 2022. "The anti‐tax‐avoidance directive: An initiative to successfully curb profit shifting?," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(3), pages 529-546, June.

    More about this item

    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:plo:pone00:0341321. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.