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The Tax Sensitivity of Debt in Multinationals: A Review

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  • Guttorm Schjelderup

Abstract

The OECD in its BEPS action plan 4 addresses tax base erosion by profit shifting through the use of tax deductible interest payments. Their main concern is interest deductions between outbound and inbound investment by groups. Studies of multinational firms show that the tax sensitivity of debt is more modest than what one would expect given the incentives for profit shifting. The purpose of this paper is to review existing literature and to add new knowledge on multinational firm behavior that pertains to the use of debt.

Suggested Citation

  • Guttorm Schjelderup, 2015. "The Tax Sensitivity of Debt in Multinationals: A Review," CESifo Working Paper Series 5590, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5590
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    1. Stropnik Neca & Korošec Bojana & Tominc Polona, 2017. "The Relationship Between the Intellectual Capital Disclosure and Cost of Debt Capital – A Case of Slovenian Private Audited Organisations," Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy, Sciendo, vol. 63(4), pages 3-16, December.
    2. Marisa Pessoa Gonçalves & Pedro M. Nogueira Reis & António Pedro Pinto, 2024. "Bank Market Power, Firm Performance, Financing Costs and Capital Structure," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, January.
    3. Dirk Schindler & Guttorm Schjelderup, 2016. "Multinationals and Income Shifting by Debt," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 263-286, September.
    4. 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.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate taxation; multinationals; capital structure; international debt-shifting; tax avoidance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

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