Dynamic elasticities of tax revenue: evidence from the Czech Republic

Tax revenue elasticities with respect to tax bases are key parameters for the modeling of public finances. Yet the existing studies estimating these elasticities for emerging countries disregard the effects of tax reforms on tax revenue, which renders their estimates inconsistent. We introduce a framework for estimating both short- and long-run tax revenue elasticities using quarterly data adjusted for the effects of reforms. Our results suggest that the long-run elasticities in the Czech Republic are 1.4 for wage tax, 0.9 for value added tax, 1.7 for profit tax and 1 for social security contributions. The adjustment process for value added tax and social security contributions is fast, but for the remaining two categories, it is important to distinguish between the short- and long-run elasticities: the initial response of revenue to changes in the bases is weak. In the case of wage tax it takes half a year for the elasticity to surpass unity.     

Are corporate tax rates, or countries, converging?

The statutory rate and effective tax rate imposed on corporation income—as well as the dispersion of these rates—began to decline in the 1980s. Is this due to changes in the domestic determinants of corporate taxation or increases in international pressures for tax competition?This paper finds clear evidence that the corporate tax rate is insulated from a country's revenue needs: across countries, there is no association of the expenditure-GDP ratio with the corporate statutory rate and only weak evidence of a positive association with the average rate. There is suggestive, but not definitive, evidence that the domestic role of the corporate tax as a backstop to the individual income tax is important: across countries, there is indeed a strong association between the top individual rate and the top statutory corporate rate.There is intriguing evidence about the role of international competitive pressures on corporate taxation. Measures of openness are negatively associated with statutory corporate rates, although not with revenues collected as a fraction of GDP. Strikingly, larger, more trade-intensive countries do collect more corporate tax, but this may be because these countries are more attractive venues for investment.     

The costs of tax havens: evidence from industry-level data

ABSTRACT

Multinational enterprises make use of tax havens to avoid paying corporate income taxes and this costs 100 billion USD and more in lost government revenue worldwide according to an increasing number of recent studies. None of those studies assigns these costs to industries. I aim to shed more light on this gap by using some of the best available industry-level US data to determine to what extent the location of the MNEs’ profit is aligned with the location of their economic activities. My first finding is that the most important tax havens for US multinational enterprises are the Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg (all EU member states). Second, I systematically identify the specific industries in specific tax havens responsible for the costs, which should be useful information for tax authorities aiming to reduce tax avoidance. Finally, I argue that the current data are not detailed enough to provide a reliable industry breakdown of the costs, but the prospect of combining input-output tables with forthcoming country-by-country data seems more promising.     

Profit-shifting from Czech multinational companies to European tax havens

Although tax havens have been affecting other countries for decades, only in recent years have the associated challenges been subject to intensive scrutiny in both research and policy areas. We contribute to the growing evidence of corporate tax base erosion and profit-shifting by testing multinational companies’ ownership links to individual tax havens rather than to groups of them, as is the case with most previous research. Our company-level analysis suggests that profit shifts through debt financing from the Czech Republic to Luxembourg, Switzerland and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands. We have ascertained that tax havens are not limited to tiny islands and may actually be found among European countries. We also provide rough estimates of the impact of this profit-shifting on tax revenues as well as a policy recommendation.     

对新疆财政收入状况的分析与判断

近年来我国财政收入增长快于经济增长这一现象引起了世人的普遍关注，并由此引发了对财政收入与经济增长是否协调、企业负担是否加重等问题的思考。从税收负担、地方政府可支配财力、转移支付的公平效果进行分析，可得出结论：新疆财政收入增长过快的同时也加重了企业负担，且受新疆特定产业结构和分税制的影响，地方财力有所削弱。对此应当从产业政策和完善转移支付制度等方面进行调整。     

我国企业所得税征管效率测度分析

高效的税收征管是良好税制的重要内容和保障,也是税制改革成功的基本条件。本文在对2000年以来我国企业所得税征管效率测度的基础上,进一步分析了近年来我国企业所得税及征管制度改革的征管效应。研究发现,近年我国企业所得税征管效率呈波浪式上升态势,效率水平还有较大提升空间;在当前情况下,国税局企业所得税征收比重的提高将会降低企业所得税征管效率,企业所得税占税收收入比重越高、在税收部门征管中越重要,就更有助于企业所得税征管效率的提升;2002年、2006年和2009年企业所得税、国地税征管责任分工调整改革,对税收征管效率的影响不显著,2008年内外资企业所得税统一改革,显著提升了企业所得税征管效率。     

Marketed tax avoidance: an economic analysis∗

Recent years have witnessed the growth of mass-marketed tax avoidance schemes aimed at the middle (not top) of the income distribution, with significant implications for tax revenue. We examine the consequences for the structure of income tax, and for tax authority anti-avoidance efforts, of tax avoidance of this type. In a model that allows for both demand- and supply-side considerations, we find that: there is an endogenous threshold income below which taxpayers do not avoid, and above which they avoid maximally; the per-dollar price of tax avoidance is decreasing in income under progressive taxation; endogenous adjustments in the price of avoidance make supply less responsive to anti-avoidance activity than thought previously; and avoidance may drive a non-monotone relationship between tax rates and tax revenue. These findings suggest that new approaches to anti-avoidance, beyond legal enforcement, might be needed.     

企业避税与年报可读性

避税活动加剧了企业的信息不对称，管理层在信息披露中是否会采用晦涩的文本信息掩盖避税行为？本文利用2008—2017年中国A股上市公司数据，考察企业避税对年报可读性的影响及其机制。结果发现，避税活动越多，企业年报采用的复杂词汇就越多，年报可读性就越差。在运用工具变量弱化内生性问题、更替年报可读性指标与企业避税指标、考虑递延所得税信息披露和税收政策影响等一系列稳健性检验后，避税行为降低企业年报可读性的结论依然成立。机制分析发现会计信息质量在避税行为对年报可读性的影响中发挥了部分中介作用，避税活动通过降低会计信息质量削弱了年报可读性，信息披露中文本信息与数字信息相配合的观点从企业避税视角得到了验证。此外，在无税收优惠、递延所得税负债较多和外部治理环境较差的企业中，避税降低年报可读性的现象更为明显。因此，规范企业税收制度能够减少企业避税、限制管理层寻租行为，促进税收透明化，从而提高企业的信息披露质量。     

An Analysis of the Corporate Income Tax Policy of Less Developed Countries

Unlike in developed countries, corporate rather than personal tax is the greater source of public finance for less developed countries (LDCs). This paper analyzes the corporate income tax policy for a large panel of LDCs. The analysis shows that although the corporate tax rate has been decreasing, corporate tax revenues have been increasing. Contrary to standard tax competition theory, there is also strong evidence that corporate income taxes are increasing with respect to the LDCs’ openness, as measured by capital mobility. The analysis also shows that the corporate tax rate is increasing with respect to the personal tax rate, as income‐shifting theory predicts.     

离岸金融税收征管法制及其在中国的构建

离岸金融税收征管法制主要涉及税收征管原则、国际避税和税收管辖权冲突等问题。实行优惠税制,是全球各离岸金融市场所在国在税收征管方面奉行的一项普遍原则,但各离岸金融中心在税收优惠程度上存在差异。在构建中国离岸金融税收征管法制的过程中,中国在税收征管原则上可以采取中等程度的税收优惠政策,在避税问题上也应采取适中的容忍态度并可以尝试通过预约定价（APA）机制来调整关联企业在离岸市场上的转移定价行为,在离岸金融税收管辖权冲突的解决上应积极参与国际协调。     

中国个人所得税的性质及其效果分析

以工资薪金税收为主体的个人所得税是一种消费者税。由于起征额的存在,个人所得税并不是一种完全的所得税,而是一种个人收入调节税。基于消费者税的理论基础,提出了关于中国代表性居民纳税人的理论平均税负的一个简单模型,以及一个关于中国个人所得税对全部税收的贡献率的理论计算公式。中国个人所得税改革应着眼于如何改善工薪所得税的累进性,增强税收的收入再分配职能,相对提高低收入劳动者的实际报酬。为此,应将个人所得税易名为个人收入调节税,减少税率档次,提高免征额。     

生态赤字税：绿色发展与税制改革*

本文在量化生态占用并评估生态价值基础上,提出运用税收实现超额生态占用价值补偿的税收方案,也称生态赤字税。根据税制生态化的改革思路,本文运用CGE模型分析了征收生态赤字税和降低所得税的政策效应。本文研究发现：(1)在各税收方案中,生态赤字减少,就业增加,支持双重红利假说,全行业中间投入减少相对总产出减少更大,名义GDP保持增长;(2)实际GDP在生态赤字税基础上仅减少企业所得税的方案中下降,同时减少个人所得税则能实现增长,此时减税额低于生态赤字税收入;(3)在开征生态赤字税同时,降低个人所得税在保持经济增长方面较好,降低企业所得税在减少生态赤字方面较好,但降低企业所得税所减少的生态赤字价值低于降低个人所得税时劳动和资本增加值的提高。本文建议在完善生态占用核算基础上开征生态赤字税,并减轻所得税,促进经济增长由资源环境消耗转向劳动和资本投入的绿色发展。     

Elasticity of Taxable Income: Evidence from Changes in Municipal Income Tax Rates in Finland

The elasticity of taxable income (ETI) is a key parameter in income tax analysis, in terms of both efficiency and tax revenue. In this paper, I use Finnish data to analyze the ETI. I use changes in flat municipal income tax rates as an instrument for overall changes in marginal tax rates. This instrument is not a function of individual income, and thus the ETI estimates are less susceptible to bias caused by differential trends across the income distribution. In general, instruments used in previous studies do not have this feature. My preferred estimate for the average ETI is 0.21.     

Laffer strikes again: Dynamic scoring of capital taxes

We set up a neoclassical growth model extended by a corporate sector, an investment and finance decision of firms, and a set of taxes on capital income. We provide analytical dynamic scoring of taxes on corporate income, dividends, capital gains, other private capital income, and depreciation allowances and identify the intricate ways through which capital taxation affects tax revenue in general equilibrium. We then calibrate the model for the US and explore quantitatively the revenue effects from capital taxation. We take adjustment dynamics after a tax change explicitly into account and compare with steady-state effects. We find, among other results, a self-financing degree of corporate tax cuts of about 70–90% and a very flat Laffer curve for all capital taxes as well as for tax depreciation allowances. Results are strongest for the tax on capital gains. The model predicts for the US that total tax revenue increases by about 0.3–1.2% after abolishment of the tax.     

Are Tax Expenditures of Individuals Only a Tool of Tax Optimisation?

The paper focuses on tax expenditures of individuals, which are one of the fiscal tools of the state. In the Czech Republic they are primarily aimed at housing policy, pension policy, and philanthropy, and the question is the extent to which tax expenditures can influence the preferences of tax payers. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of tax expenditures of individuals in the form of tax deductions for social policy, housing support and retirement savings. We also evaluate whether these tax deductions fulfill the fiscal functions for which they were introduced and the extent to which taxpayers use them. Methodically, the research is based on the analysis of secondary statistical data of the Financial Administration of the Czech Republic and results from aggregated tax returns filed for the period 2005–2015. The effect of tax deductions was decreased by abolition of the progressive rate of personal income taxes and by introduction of a uniform tax rate of 15%. Tax deductions for retirement savings do not have a sufficiently strong motivational impact and do not affect taxpayers in the context of public policy. Deductions for mortgage interest can be regarded as a form of major housing support, but are related to taxpayer income and favor those with higher incomes.     

中国地方政府间的企业所得税竞争研究* ——基于面板数据空间滞后模型的实证分析

中国地方政府没有独立的税收立法权,但仍然可以通过企业所得税优惠开展中国式税收竞争。本文在构建省级企业所得税优惠衡量指标的基础上,使用面板数据空间滞后模型分析表明,中国地方政府间存在无序的策略互补式税收竞争,并且在企业所得税名义税收优惠上的竞争比实际税收优惠更为激烈。中央政府有必要从企业所得税名义税收优惠入手,采取措施规范地方政府间的企业所得税竞争行为,但同时也应该保持税收优惠政策本身及其实施效果的连续性。     

对加强企业所得税征管的若干思考

新企业所得税法颁布实施以来,根据现行企业所得税征管现状及以往征管经验,可以发现新企业所得税法在对企业所得税的征管中还存在所得税政策、所得税计征办法、所得税税源监控、避税与反避税以及执法责任等方面的不足。如能在完善和调整所得税的优惠政策、加强税源监管以减少税收流失等方面加以改进,将会提高企业所得税征管的质量和效率。     

Who participates in tax avoidance? Evidence from Swedish microdata

This article empirically examines why not all individuals participate in tax avoidance. We use rich Swedish administrative panel data on all taxpayers, with a link between corporate and individual tax returns and document that few individuals utilize legal and observable tax avoidance opportunities. Our results show that there are several frictions in tax avoidance participation. In addition to monetary benefits from tax avoidance (incentives), the opportunity to participate in tax avoidance (access), as well as information and knowledge about these opportunities (awareness), are important factors for the individual’s tax avoidance decision. We further show that tax avoidance spreads within communities. The impact of the local network is stronger for non-commuters who live and work in the same municipality.     

跨国电子商务对国际税收管辖权的挑战及应对策略

跨国电子商务给国际贸易带来便利的同时,也对国际税收管辖权带来挑战,使传统居民税收管辖权、收入来源地税收管辖权的执行遇到困难,且便利国际避税行为、严重影响一国经济利益。面对跨国电子商务带来的挑战,国际社会提出不少观点与解决方案,然而都存在缺陷,不能很好解决跨国电子商务带来的问题。解决跨国电子商务下的税收管辖权问题,要强化跨国电子商务税收征管,以＂比特税＂形式对电子商务关税及其它流转税征收,厘清税收管辖权等。     

Corporate Tax Incentives for R&D Investment in OECD Countries

Differentiating internal equity from debt finance, this study examines the generosity of R&D-specific tax incentives in OECD countries based on an NPV model. The corporate tax system generally favours debt finance and some previous findings on the possible preponderance of internal equity for financing R&D investment cannot be explained in relation to R&D-specific tax concessions. The OECD comparison demonstrates that R&D tax allowances adopted in the Czech Republic, Belgium, the UK, Denmark, Hungary, Austria and Australia generated the most substantial tax savings in 2006. Combined with such incentives, the after-tax NPV increases with the corporate tax rate, suggesting stronger investment stimulation through a tax-rate-increase-cum-base-broadening policy.