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Not(ch) your average tax system : corporate taxation under weak enforcement

Author

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  • Bachas,Pierre Jean
  • Soto,Mauricio

Abstract

How should developing countries tax corporate income? This paper studies this question in Costa Rica, where firms face discontinuously higher average tax rates on profits when their revenue marginally increases. The paper combines a discontinuity and a bunching design to estimate the profit elasticity and separate it into revenue and cost elasticities. Faced with higher tax rates, firms slightly reduce revenue but considerably increase costs, generating a large elasticity of profits. In this context, the revenue maximizing rate for profit taxation is below 25 percent and broadening the tax base while lowering the rate can increase revenue for these firms by 80 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Bachas,Pierre Jean & Soto,Mauricio, 2018. "Not(ch) your average tax system : corporate taxation under weak enforcement," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8524, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8524
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Bergolo, Marcelo & Burdin, Gabriel & De Rosa, Mauricio & Giaccobasso, Matias & Leites, Martin, 2019. "Tax Bunching at the Kink in the Presence of Low Capacity of Enforcement: Evidence from Uruguay," IZA Discussion Papers 12286, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Matthias Krapf & David Staubli, 2020. "The Corporate Elasticity of Taxable Income: Event Study Evidence from Switzerland," CESifo Working Paper Series 8715, CESifo.
    3. Haichao Fan & Yu Liu & Nancy Qian & Jaya Wen, 2024. "Technological Adoption and Taxation: The Case of China’s Golden Tax Reform," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 38, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Li Liu & Ben Lockwood & Miguel Almunia & Eddy H. F. Tam, 2021. "VAT Notches, Voluntary Registration, and Bunching: Theory and U.K. Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(1), pages 151-164, March.
    5. Athiphat Muthitacharoen & Wonma Wanichthaworn & Trongwut Burong, 2021. "VAT threshold and small business behavior: evidence from Thai tax returns," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(5), pages 1242-1275, October.
    6. Xiaoxue Li & Liu Tian & Jing Xu, 2020. "Missing social security contributions: the role of contribution rate and corporate income tax rate," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(6), pages 1453-1484, December.
    7. He, Daixin & Peng, Langchuan & Wang, Xiaxin, 2021. "Understanding the elasticity of taxable income: A tale of two approaches," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).

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