Which Effective Tax Rate?

In estimating the effects of capital income taxation, different studies measure different effective tax rates. This paper categorizes effective tax rate estimates into six basic types, and discusses the usefulness of each. For marginal effective tax rates, some studies estimate the additional taxes associated with a marginal increase in the inflation and interest rates, while others estimate the additional taxes associated with a marginal increase in investment. Because there are six basic types of rates, because of the different procedures that can be used to estimate each type, and because of different assumptions about the margin, care should be taken in the application and use of effective tax rate estimates.

Pitfalls in the Construction and Use of Effective Tax Rates

A cost of capital formula can be a useful tool in estimating the effective tax rate on a dollar of marginal investment in a particular industry. There are a number of procedural issues, however, which can greatly affect the resulting estimates. First, tax rate estimates vary with the interest rate used in the formula. Second, the nonlinearity of tax rate formulas may lead to anomalous results. For example, an investment that is actually subsidized may appear to bear a positive tax. Or, tax rates may become arbitrarily large when the project's rate of return approaches zero. Third, effective tax rate results depend on the assumed relationship between inflation and nominal interest rates. Our conclusion is that much sensitivity analysis and specificity are required in studies that undertake to estimate effective tax rates.

Effective Corporate Income Tax Burden in Croatia

This paper provides an analysis of corporate income tax (CIT) in Croatia. Given the fact that Croatia implements a consumption-based CIT and a number of tax incentives, the purpose of this paper is to establish the level of effective tax burden on companies in Croatia. In addition to analyzing the basic indicators of the CIT burden, the paper also presents a calculation of the effective tax rate based on the application of the Devereux-Griffith methodology. Apart from the cost of capital, the effective marginal tax rate (EMTR) and the effective average tax rate (EATR), also the EATR will be calculated for cases in which tax holidays are used.Effective tax rates, corporate income tax, tax holidays, Croatia

The taxation of discrete investment choices

Traditional analysis of the taxation of income from capital has focused on the impact of tax on marginal investment decisions; the principal impact of tax on investment is through the cost of capital, and is generally measured by an effective marginal tax rate. In this paper, we consider cases in which investors face a choice between two or more mutually exclusive projects, both of which are expected to earn at least the minimum required rate of return. Examples include the location decisions of multinationals, firms' choice of technology, and the choice of investment projects in the presence of binding financial constraints. In these cases the choice depends on the effective average tax rate. We propose a measure of this rate and demonstrate its relationship to the conventional effective marginal tax rate. Estimates of both are presented and compared for domestic and international investment in Germany, Japan, the UK and USA between 1979 and 1997

EFFECTIVE CORPORATE INCOME TAX RATE IN ROMANIA: A MICRO-BACKWARD LOOKING APPROACH

Within the framework of micro-backward looking methodology, the paper computes the effective corporate income tax rate for Bucharest Stock Exchange non-financial companies for 2000 - 2009 period, using data from companies financial reports. We find that effective tax rate computed as profit tax/pre-tax income ratio was below the statutory tax rate, throughout the period, except for the year 2009 (when an alternative minimum tax was introduced) and the differences have diminished since the flat tax was adopted (2005). When applying a correlation analysis, we find that the difference between this effective tax rate and the statutory tax rate presents a strong negative correlation with the return on assets ratio (ROA). Also, we have find that commerce is enjoying the most favourable tax regime, while energy is the most heavily taxed.effective corporate income tax rate, backward looking methodology

The Effective Tax Rate and the Pretax Rate of Return

This paper presents new estimates of the taxes paid on nonfinancial corporate capital, on the pretax rate of return to capital, and on the effective tax rate. The basic time series show that both the pretax rate of return and the effective tax rate have varied substantially in the past quarter century. An explicit analysis indicates that, after adjusting for different aspects of the business cycle, pretax profitability was between one and 1.5 percentage points lower in the 1970's than in the 1960's. The rate of profitability in the 1960's was also about one-half of a percentage point greater than the profitability in the 7 years of the 1950's after the Korean war. Changes in productivity growth, in inflation, in relative unit labor costs, and in other variables are all associated with changes in profitability. None of these variables, however, can explain the differences in profitability between the 1950Ts, 1960's and 1970's. Looking at broad decade averages, the effective tax rate and the pretax rate of return move in opposite directions, higher pretax profits occurring when the tax rate is high. There thus appears to have been no tendency for pretax profits to vary in a way that offsets differences in effective tax rates.

DO COUNTRIES COMPETE OVER CORPORATE TAX RATES?

This paper tests whether OECD countries compete with each other over corporate taxes in order to attract investment. We develop two models: with …rm mobility, countries compete only over the statutory tax rate or the e¤ective average tax rate, while with capital mobility, countries compete only over the e¤ective marginal tax rate. We estimate the parameters of reaction functions using data from 21 countries between 1983 and 1999. We …nd evidence that countries compete over all three measures, but particularly over the statutory tax rate and the e¤ective average tax rate. This is consistent with a belief amongst governments that location choices by multinational …rms are discrete. We also …nd evidence of concave reaction functions, consistent with the model outlined in the paper.tax competition ; corporate taxes ; effective average tax rate ; effective marginal tax rate

Comparison of the methodologies for assessing effective tax burden of corporate income used in European Union

In relationship with the changes of tax regulations in surrounding countries and last but not least in connection with the reform of public finances again the question of the further development of the Czech tax system is getting forward. The primary reason for the existence of taxes is fiscal, i.e. to ensure sufficient sources of public budgets for financing public property, however the tax policy must be provided in parallel with measures on the expenditure side of public budgets, that means it is necessary to perceive the tax policy in the context of the whole financial and economic policy of the state. In the sphere of direct taxes the most important external factor is the tax competition between single countries and that is also in the frame of the expanded European Union. The comparison of the income tax of legal entities shows in the last three years unambiguously the decreasing tax burden of firms. However, beside that economic behaviour of companies in connection with positioning their capital abroad reacts on comparability of tax conditions in single countries. Statutory corporate income tax rates are not the right indicator for the comparison of the real economic tax burden of various companies both in the frame of the one state and between the states. That is why for these purposes are used so-called effective corporate income tax rates discussed in this paper, which describes three methodologies for assessing these rates used in the European Union. These methodologies are using either real data from accounting on the national macro level or on the individual company micro level concerning realized entrepreneurial intentions by now or the hypothetical data concerning investments of these companies planed in the future. In conclusion of this paper are presented main differences between these three approaches.Statutory corporate tax rate, effective corporate tax rate, implicit tax rate, macro and micro backward-looking methods, micro forward-looking methods, tax wedge, cost of capital, effective marginal tax rate, effective average tax rate

The taxation of discrete investment choices

Traditional analysis of the taxation of income from capital has focused on the impact of tax on marginal investment decisions; the principal impact of tax on investment is through the cost of capital, and is generally measured by an effective marginal tax rate. In this paper, we consider cases in which investors face a choice between two or more mutually exclusive projects, both of which are expected to earn at least the minimum required rate of return. Examples include the location decisions of multinationals, firms’ choice of technology, and the choice of investment projects in the presence of binding financial constraints. In these cases the choice depends on the effective average tax rate. We propose a measure of this rate and demonstrate its relationship to the conventional effective marginal tax rate. Estimates of both are presented and compared for domestic and international investment in Germany, Japan, the UK and USA between 1979 and 1997.

The impacts of the 1988 tax reform on married women's labour supply in Canada

I investigate the impact of the Canadian Federal tax reform of 1988 on the labour supply of lower income married women. The Canadian federal tax reform of 1988 replaced the spousal exemption with a nonrefundable tax credit. This reduced the dependence of a low income married woman’s effective marginal tax rate on the effective marginal tax rate of her husband. Using difference-in-difference estimators, I compare the labour supply of women married to higher income husbands (the "treatment" group) and the labour supply of women married to lower income husbands (the "control" group). The treatment group experienced significantly larger reductions in their effective marginal tax rate than the control group. I find a significant increase in labour force participation for women married to higher income husbands. I also show that the tax reform significantly increased the total annual working ho