The Elasticity of Corporate Taxable Income: New Evidence from UK Tax Records

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Devereux ◽  
Li Liu ◽  
Simon Loretz
Keyword(s):  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Marginal Rate ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Taxable Income ◽  
Corporation Tax ◽  
Tax Returns ◽  
The Difference ◽  
New Evidence

We estimate the elasticity of corporate taxable income with respect to the statutory corporation tax rate using the population of UK corporation tax returns. We analyze bunching in the distribution of taxable income at kinks in the marginal rate schedule. We decompose this elasticity into an elasticity of total income with respect to the corporation tax rate, and an elasticity of the share of income taken as profit with respect to the difference between the personal and corporate tax rates. This implies a marginal deadweight cost at the £10,000 kink of around 29 percent of tax revenue. (JEL G32, H24, H25, L25)

Measuring Revenue-maximizing Elasticities of Taxable Income

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Creedy ◽  
Norman Gemmell
Keyword(s):  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Marginal Rate ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Taxable Income ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Us ◽  
Marginal Tax Rates ◽  
The Right

This article considers the question of whether marginal tax rates (MTRs) in the US income tax system are on the “right” side of their respective Laffer curves. Previous attention has tended to focus specifically on the top MTR. Conceptual expressions for these “revenue-maximizing elasticities of taxable income” (ETI L), based on readily observable tax parameters, are presented for each tax rate in a multi-rate income tax system. Applying these to the US income tax, with its complex effective marginal rate structure, demonstrates that a wide range of revenue-maximizing ETI values can be expected within, and across, tax brackets and for all taxpayers in aggregate. For some significant groups of taxpayers, these revenue-maximizing ETIs appear to be within the range of empirically estimated elasticities.

Experimental Evidence on the Relation between Tax Rates and Compliance: The Effect of Earned vs. Endowed Income

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott J. Boylan ◽  
Geoffrey B. Sprinkle
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Rate Increase ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Taxable Income ◽  
Tax Returns ◽  
Compliance Decisions ◽  
Tax Reporting ◽  
Reporting Phase

In this paper, we report the results of an experiment designed to determine whether the manner in which income is obtained (earned vs. endowed) affects the relation between tax rates and taxpayer compliance. Our experiment consisted of an income phase and a tax-reporting phase. In the income phase, participants were either endowed with $20 or were required to earn $20 by performing a one-hour multiplication exercise. In the tax-reporting phase, participants decided how much of their $20 in income to report on their tax returns. Consistent with prior experimental evidence, we find that when income is endowed, participants respond to a tax rate increase by reporting less taxable income. In contrast, but consistent with economic theory and some archival-empirical evidence, we find that when income is earned, participants respond to a tax rate increase by reporting more taxable income. Collectively, the results suggest that income is not a fungible commodity and that tax-payer responses to changes in policy variables such as the tax rate may depend critically on the amount of time and effort required to generate income. Additionally, our results may help explain differences between the results of taxpayer compliance experiments (which typically endow individuals with income) and archival-empirical studies (which use data that typically include earned income) regarding how changes in the tax rate (and other factors) affect taxpayer compliance decisions.

Corporate Taxation under Weak Enforcement

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 36-71
Author(s):  
Pierre Bachas ◽  
Mauricio Soto
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Costa Rica ◽  
Tax Policy ◽  
Corporate Taxation ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Taxable Profit

How should developing countries tax corporate income? We study this question in Costa Rica, where firms face higher average tax rates on profits when revenues marginally increase. We combine discontinuity and bunching designs to estimate the elasticity of taxable profit and separate it into revenue and cost elasticities. We find that firms faced with a higher tax rate slightly reduce revenues but considerably increase costs, thus producing a large elasticity of taxable profit of 3–5. In this context, the revenue-maximizing rate for a corporate tax on profit is below 25 percent, and we show that a tax policy that broadens the base while lowering the rate can almost double the tax revenue collected from these firms. (JEL D22, H25, H26, H32, K34, L25, O23)

Effective Tax Rate Time Trends and its Determinants: Insight From The Corporate Taxpayer Utilising Reinvestment Allowance In Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-46
Author(s):  
Fairus Halizam A. Hamzah ◽  
Nadiah Abd Hamid ◽  
Siti Noorhayati Mohamed Zawawi
Keyword(s):  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Effective Tax Rate ◽  
Effective Tax Rates ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Tax Incentive ◽  
Utilisation Rate ◽  
Tax Deduction

This study aims to provide evidence on the trend in corporate tax revenue from the application of time-trend analysis of effective tax rate (ETR) amongst corporate taxpayers in Malaysia who claimed reinvestment allowance (RA) over a decade between 2007 and 2016. This study chose these observation periods because the Malaysian corporate STR has been found to have gradually reduced from 27 per cent to 24 per cent between 2007 to 2016, whereby these changes somehow impacted the tax revenue. Taxpayers who used RA for tax planning pay low taxes over time, determined through tax return data. Then, the study intended to examine the relationships between certain tax attributes, namely, company's profitability (ROA), the reinvestment allowance utilisation rate (RAUTI), type of corporate taxpayers (TPP), the book-tax gap (BTG) and how they associate to the trend in ETR. Reinvestment Allowance (RA) is renowned for being a corporate tax incentive in Malaysia to encourage investments in qualified projects through a tax deduction. An incentivised firm that pays low tax may not be engaging in fraudulent management, as generally assumed. However, it could have been due to tax avoidance strategies that can be observed through reduced or lowered effective tax rate (ETR) across ten years. Keywords: Effective Tax Rates, Tax Avoidance, Reinvestment Allowance, Tax Incentive, Taxation.

scholarly journals Effective Taxation of Top Incomes in Germany

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Bach ◽  
Giacomo Corneo ◽  
Viktor Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Tax Base ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Top Incomes ◽  
Tax Returns ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Income Tax Reform

Abstract We exploit a dataset that includes the individual tax returns of all taxpayers in the top percentile of the income distribution in Germany to pin down the effective income taxation of households with very high incomes. Taking tax base erosion into account, we find that the top percentile of the income distribution pays an effective average tax rate of 30.5% and contributes more than a quarter of total income tax revenue. Within the top percentile, the effective average tax rate is first increasing, then decreasing, with income. Since the 1990s, effective average tax rates for the German super-rich have fallen by about a third, with major reductions occurring in the wake of the personal income tax reform of 2001-05. As a result, the concentration of net incomes at the very top of the distribution has strongly increased in Germany.

Implicit Taxes Amid Race to the Bottom in a Global Tax Game

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Igor Semenenko ◽  
Junwook Yoo ◽  
Parporn Akathaporn
Keyword(s):  
Capital Mobility ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Race To The Bottom ◽  
Tax Subsidy ◽  
Tax Subsidies ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Tax Returns ◽  
Tax Hypothesis

Growing tax competition among national governments in the presence of capital mobility distorts equilibrium in the international corporate tax market. This paper is related to the literature that examines impact of international tax policies on corporate accounting statements. Employing international firm-level data, this study revisits the race-to-the-bottom hypothesis and documents that tax exemptions lowering effective tax rates relative to statutory rates increase pre-tax returns. This finding directly contradicts the implicit tax hypothesis documented by Wilkie (1992), who provided empirical evidence on inverse relationship between pre-tax return and tax subsidy. We also find evidences that relative importance of permanent versus timing component depends on the geography and that decline in corporate tax rates reduces impact of tax subsidies on profitability. Our findings suggest that tax subsidies play a different role than in 1968-1985, which was examined by Wilkie (1992). These results are consistent with the race-to-the-bottom hypothesis and income shifting explanation

Ireland faces economic uncertainty with OECD reforms

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Economic Uncertainty ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Sinn Fein ◽  
Fiscal Spending

Significance This framework laid out two pillars of reform. Pillar One would see large companies liable for tax in the end-market jurisdiction where their goods or services are used or consumed. Pillar Two would set a minimum tax rate of 15%. Impacts Ireland will probably support the reforms by October, and in return it may get some concessions over implementation or sectoral coverage. Reduced corporate tax revenue may result in tighter fiscal spending, which would play into the hands of the opposition Sinn Fein. The corporate tax proposals come at a particularly bad time for the Irish economy, which is already facing the consequences of Brexit.

scholarly journals Malaysian corporate tax rate and revenue: the application of Ibn Khaldun tax theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-262
Author(s):  
Hairul Azlan Annuar ◽  
Khadijah Isa ◽  
Salihu Aramide Ibrahim ◽  
Sakiru Adsebola Solarin
Keyword(s):  
Cash Flow ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Tax Revenue ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Gradual Reduction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ibn Khaldun ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Optimal Tax ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The present study aims to investigate the impact of the reduction of the corporate tax rate on corporate tax revenue. The study adopts the theory of taxation by Ibn Khaldun, depicted as the Laffer curve. Design/methodology/approach The paper analyses time series data for the period 1996 to 2014 using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. Findings The paper finds that the corporate tax rate has a dual effect on corporate tax revenue over the study period. It shows an inverted U-shape relationship between the corporate tax rate and corporate tax revenue and reveals that the optimal tax rate is 25.5156 per cent. Inferentially, a positive relationship exists between the two variables prior to the optimal tax rate, and a negative relationship prevails afterwards. A further test of causality shows a long-run unidirectional causality between corporate tax rate and corporate tax revenue. Research limitations/implications First, it should be noted that the policy was not implemented in isolation. Several other tax incentives were given to corporate tax payers, and therefore, such incentives should be controlled for to have a more insightful evaluation of the policy. Second and most important, there is a need to investigate whether the increased cash flow available to firms as a result of the reduction in the corporate tax rate adds value to firms. It is also necessary to investigate whether firms’ stakeholders benefited from the increased cash flow or was there managerial diversion of firms’ resources. Practical implications The policy of gradual reduction of the corporate tax rate in Malaysia is suspected to have a positive impact on the productivity of Malaysian companies, which has contributed to an increase in corporate tax revenue. It also has a positive impact on the economic growth of the country. It means that the lower corporate tax rate has actually reduced the cost of doing business in the country. Originality/value The benefit of increased corporate tax revenue needs to be investigated empirically for insightful policy evaluation. In Malaysia, however, such investigation is close to non-existent to the best knowledge of the researchers. Thus, the present study aims at investigating the impact of the policy of gradual reduction of the corporate tax rate on corporate tax revenue over an 18-year period from 1996 to 2014.

scholarly journals An Empirical Analysis Of The Impact Of Tax Rates On Subchapter S Elections

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Linda Burilovich
Keyword(s):  
Small Businesses ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Double Taxation ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Taxable Income ◽  
Corporate Form ◽  
Empirical Tests ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Loss Firms

Selecting the appropriate form of organization may be a difficult choice for a small business firm. The corporate form offers legal liability but imposes double taxation. The choice often becomes a trade-off between the nontax benefits of incorporating and the costs of double taxation. Certain small businesses qualify to make an election under Subchapter S of the tax code which allows them to operate as a corporation, but avoid the corporate tax by passing through taxable income or loss to shareholders. These firms are known as S corporations. This article examines the impact of personal and corporate tax rates on the propensity for small businesses to elect to operate as S corporations. The behavior of gain and loss firms is analyzed separately. Empirical tests suggest that tax rates do have a significant and sometimes surprising impact on this choice. These findings have significance for policymakers in attempting to reduce the costs of taxes to new firms which may be inhibited from entering the market due to the impact of double taxation.

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