Sector and size effects on effective corporate taxation

The current debate in corporate taxation is focussing on leveling the tax playing field within the European Union in order to allow companies incorporated in different countries to face the same competitive conditions. However, various elements of corporate tax rules may discriminate against companies registered in the same country but having different sizes or operating in different sectors. Using the micro backward-looking approach to compute effective tax rates for eleven European countries, the US, and Japan, this paper shows that there could be some concerns regarding domestic tax discrimination since some sectors and sizes enjoy significantly more favorable tax burdens.