IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/zewdip/18036.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Cross-border tax evasion after the common reporting standard: Game over?

Author

Listed:
  • Casi, Elisa
  • Spengel, Christoph
  • Stage, Barbara M. B.

Abstract

We study the effect of the first global multilateral standard for the automatic exchange of information (AEOI), the so called Common Reporting Standard (CRS), on cross border tax evasion. Employing newly available bilateral data on cross-border deposits, we find that the CRS induced a reduction of 11.9% in cross-border deposits parked in traditional offshore countries for tax evasion purposes. Moreover, regardless of the 2,600 bilateral exchange relations created under the CRS, relocation is still a desirable option. More specifically, upon the CRS implementation at the domestic level, the United States, which so far did not commit to the CRS, seems to emerge as a potentially attractive location for cross-border tax evasion.

Suggested Citation

  • Casi, Elisa & Spengel, Christoph & Stage, Barbara M. B., 2019. "Cross-border tax evasion after the common reporting standard: Game over?," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-036, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/202027/1/dp18036.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Becker, Gary S, 1974. "A Theory of Social Interactions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 82(6), pages 1063-1093, Nov.-Dec..
    2. Nicolas Coeurdacier & Hélène Rey, 2013. "Home Bias in Open Economy Financial Macroeconomics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(1), pages 63-115, March.
    3. Clemens Fuest & Andreas Peichl & Sebastian Siegloch, 2018. "Do Higher Corporate Taxes Reduce Wages? Micro Evidence from Germany," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 393-418, February.
    4. 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, pages 53-78.
    5. Daniel Garrett & Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato, 2019. "How Elastic is the Demand for Tax Havens? Evidence from the US Possessions Corporations Tax Credit," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 493-499, May.
    6. Dharmapala, Dhammika, 2016. "Cross-border tax evasion under a unilateral FATCA regime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 29-37.
    7. J. C. Sharman, 2010. "Shopping for Anonymous Shell Companies: An Audit Study of Anonymity and Crime in the International Financial System," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(4), pages 127-140, Fall.
    8. Alstadsæter, Annette & Johannesen, Niels & Zucman, Gabriel, 2018. "Who owns the wealth in tax havens? Macro evidence and implications for global inequality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 89-100.
    9. Bruno, Valentina & Shin, Hyun Song, 2015. "Capital flows and the risk-taking channel of monetary policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 119-132.
    10. Kleimeier, Stefanie & Sander, Harald & Heuchemer, Sylvia, 2013. "Financial crises and cross-border banking: New evidence," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 884-915.
    11. Anna Gumpert & James R. Hines Jr. & Monika Schnitzer, 2016. "Multinational Firms and Tax Havens," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(4), pages 713-727, October.
    12. Michael G. Findley & Daniel L. Nielson & J.C. Sharman, 2015. "Causes of Noncompliance with International Law: A Field Experiment on Anonymous Incorporation," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 59(1), pages 146-161, January.
    13. Gabriel Zucman, 2013. "The Missing Wealth of Nations: Are Europe and the U.S. net Debtors or net Creditors?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 128(3), pages 1321-1364.
    14. Judith Gold & Ahmed El-Ashram & Ms. Xin C Xu, 2015. "Too Much of a Good Thing? Prudent Management of Inflows under Economic Citizenship Programs," IMF Working Papers 2015/093, International Monetary Fund.
    15. Friedrich Heinemann & Marcel Olbert & Olena Pfeiffer & Thomas Schwab & Christoph Spengel & Kathrin Stutzenberger, 2018. "Implications of the US Tax Reform for Transatlantic FDI," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 53(2), pages 87-93, March.
    16. Niels Johannesen & Patrick Langetieg & Daniel Reck & Max Risch & Joel Slemrod, 2020. "Taxing Hidden Wealth: The Consequences of US Enforcement Initiatives on Evasive Foreign Accounts," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 312-346, August.
    17. 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.
    18. Lisa De Simone & Rebecca Lester & Kevin Markle, 2020. "Transparency and Tax Evasion: Evidence from the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 105-153, March.
    19. 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.
    20. Desai, Mihir A. & Foley, C. Fritz & Hines, James Jr., 2006. "The demand for tax haven operations," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 513-531, February.
    21. 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.
    22. Huizinga, Harry & Nicodeme, Gaetan, 2004. "Are international deposits tax-driven," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1093-1118, June.
    23. 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.
    24. Johannesen, Niels, 2014. "Tax evasion and Swiss bank deposits," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 46-62.
    25. Jost H. Heckemeyer & Aaron K. Hemmerich, 2020. "Information Exchange and Tax Haven Investment in OECD Securities Markets," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 73(2), pages 291-330, June.
    26. 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.
    27. Caruana-Galizia, Paul & Caruana-Galizia, Matthew, 2016. "Offshore financial activity and tax policy: evidence from a leaked data set," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(3), pages 457-488, September.
    28. Cerutti, Eugenio & Hale, Galina & Minoiu, Camelia, 2015. "Financial crises and the composition of cross-border lending," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 60-81.
    29. Allingham, Michael G. & Sandmo, Agnar, 1972. "Income tax evasion: a theoretical analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3-4), pages 323-338, November.
    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. 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, pages 53-78.
    2. Fauser, Hannes & Godar, Sarah, 2021. "Income tax noncompliance in Germany, 2001-2014," Discussion Papers 2021/17, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    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. Jeanne Bomare & Ségal Le Guern Herry, 2022. "Will We Ever Be Able to Track Offshore Wealth? Evidence from the Offshore Real Estate Market in the UK," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03811306, HAL.
    5. Elisa Casi & Mohammed Mardan & Rohit Reddy Muddasani, 2022. "So close and yet so far: the ability of mandatory disclosure rules to crack down on offshore tax evasion," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2022-116, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Ludger Schuknecht & Vincent Siegerink, 2021. "The Political Economy of the International Tax Transparency Agenda in the G20/OECD Context," CESifo Working Paper Series 8813, CESifo.
    7. Dieter Pfaff & Patricia Ruffing-Straube & David Staubli, 2022. "Entwicklung der straflosen Selbstanzeigen im Zuge der Einführung des automatischen Informationsaustauschs in der Schweiz," Working Papers 394, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    8. 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.
    9. Agustín Bénétrix & Lorenz Emter & Martin Schmitz, 2021. "Automatic for the (tax) people: information sharing and cross-border investment in tax havens," Trinity Economics Papers tep1321, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    10. Maria Delgado Coelho & Sebastian Beer & Sebastien Leduc, 2019. "Hidden Treasure: The Impact of Automatic Exchange of Information on Cross-Border Tax Evasion," IMF Working Papers 2019/286, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Lisa De Simone & Rebecca Lester & Kevin Markle, 2020. "Transparency and Tax Evasion: Evidence from the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(1), pages 105-153, March.
    12. Dominika Langenmayr & Lennard Zyska, 2021. "Avoiding Taxes: Escaping the Exchange of Information: Tax Evasion via Citizenship-by-Investment," Working Papers 204, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    13. Dominika Langenmayr & Lennard Zyska, 2021. "Escaping the Exchange of Information: Tax Evasion via Citizenship-by-Investment," CESifo Working Paper Series 8956, CESifo.
    14. Matthew Collin & Florian M. Hollenbach & David Szakonyi, 2023. "The end of Londongrad? The impact of beneficial ownership transparency on offshore investment in UK property," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-11, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Jeanne Bomare & Ségal Le Guern Herry, 2022. "Will We Ever Be Able to Track Offshore Wealth? Evidence from the Offshore Real Estate Market in the UK," Working Papers hal-03811306, HAL.
    16. Jeanne Bomare & Ségal Le Guern Herry, 2022. "Will We Ever Be Able to Track Offshore Wealth? Evidence from the Offshore Real Estate Market in the UK," SciencePo Working papers hal-03811306, HAL.

    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, pages 53-78.
    2. Dominika Langenmayr & Lennard Zyska, 2021. "Escaping the Exchange of Information: Tax Evasion via Citizenship-by-Investment," CESifo Working Paper Series 8956, CESifo.
    3. Dominika Langenmayr & Lennard Zyska, 2021. "Avoiding Taxes: Escaping the Exchange of Information: Tax Evasion via Citizenship-by-Investment," Working Papers 204, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    4. Bayer, Ralph-C. & Hodler, Roland & Raschky, Paul A. & Strittmatter, Anthony, 2020. "Expropriations, property confiscations and new offshore entities: Evidence from the Panama Papers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 132-152.
    5. 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.
    6. Jeanne Bomare & Ségal Le Guern Herry, 2022. "Will We Ever Be Able to Track Offshore Wealth? Evidence from the Offshore Real Estate Market in the UK," Working Papers hal-03811306, HAL.
    7. Jeanne Bomare & Ségal Le Guern Herry, 2022. "Will We Ever Be Able to Track Offshore Wealth? Evidence from the Offshore Real Estate Market in the UK," SciencePo Working papers hal-03811306, HAL.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Jeanne Bomare & Ségal Le Guern Herry, 2022. "Will We Ever Be Able to Track Offshore Wealth? Evidence from the Offshore Real Estate Market in the UK," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03811306, HAL.
    12. Agustín Bénétrix & Lorenz Emter & Martin Schmitz, 2021. "Automatic for the (tax) people: information sharing and cross-border investment in tax havens," Trinity Economics Papers tep1321, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    13. Cheng, Si & Massa, Massimo & Zhang, Hong, 2021. "Tax Evasion and Market Efficiency: Evidence from the FATCA and Offshore Mutual Funds," CEPR Discussion Papers 15747, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Jakob Miethe, 2020. "The Elusive Banker: Using Hurricanes to Uncover (Non-)Activity in Offshore Financial Centers," CESifo Working Paper Series 8625, CESifo.
    15. Bouvatier, Vincent & Capelle-blancard, Gunther & Delatte, Anne-Laure, 2017. "Banks in Tax Havens: First Evidence based on Country-by-Country Reporting," CEPR Discussion Papers 12222, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Alejandro Esteller-Moré & Shafik Hebous & Niels Johannesen & Katarzyna Anna Bilicka, 2018. "The Present and Future of Tax Havens / El presente y futuro de los paraísos fiscales / El present i futur dels paradisos fiscals," IEB Reports ieb_report_4_2018, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    17. 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.
    18. Arun Advani & Hannah Tarrant, 2021. "Behavioural responses to a wealth tax," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3-4), pages 509-537, September.
    19. 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.
    20. Braun, Julia & Weichenrieder, Alfons, 2015. "Does exchange of information between tax authorities influence multinationals' use of tax havens?," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-015, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax Evasion; Automatic Exchange of Information; Offshore Countries; Cross-Border Deposits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F42 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - International Policy Coordination and Transmission
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

    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:zewdip:18036. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/zemande.html .

    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/zemande.html .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.