This paper discusses the issue of profit shifting and "aggressive" tax planning by multinational firms. The paper makes two contributions. First, it provides some background information to the debate by giving a brief overview of existing empirical studies on profit shifting and by describing...

Aggressive tax planning efforts of highly profitable multinational companies (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)) have recently become the subject of intense public debate. As a response, several international initiatives and parties have called for more transparency in financial reporting,...

This paper discusses tax policy measures to reduce corporate tax avoidance by extending taxation in the source country without imposing double taxation. We focus on four options: Bilaterally restricting interest and royalty deductibility, introducing an inverted tax credit system, levying...

This paper discusses the issue of profit shifting and ‘aggressive' tax planning by multinational firms. The paper makes two contributions. Firstly, we provide some background information to the debate by giving a brief overview over existing empirical studies on profit shifting and by...

While there is a large and growing number of studies on the determinants of corporate tax rates, the literature has so far ignored the fact that the behavior of governments in setting tax rates is often best described as a discrete choice decision problem. We set up an empirical model that...

Ongoing tax reform processes, competitive pressures and the consequences of the financial and sovereign debt crisis have considerably shaped the tax systems of the Member States of the European Union in the last two decades. Our paper combines a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the...

After intensive and extensive preparation, the European Commission released the long-awaited proposal for a Council Directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) on March 16, 2011. In the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy, major objectives of the proposed CCCTB are the...

The article assesses the impact of a Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) as promoted by the European Commission and the related Working Groups on the effective tax burdens of companies in all 27 EU member states. The results shall help to evaluate the economic consequences of introducing a...