IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/tax/taxpap/0012.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The corporate income tax rate-revenue paradox: Evidence in the EU

Author

Listed:
  • Joanna Piotrowska

    (Ministry of Finance, Poland)

  • Werner Vanborren

    (European Commission)

Abstract

In Europe, the decline in the corporate tax rates has not been reflected in the tax-to-GDP ratios. This paper explores to what extent the observed trend can be explained by changes in the effective tax burden on corporate income, in the share of total income accruing to the corporate sector and in total business income relative to GDP. We present an overview of the findings from previous literature, apply the methodology developed by S?rensen to decompose the most complete data available on the European level and make use of information collected from parallel studies on the effective tax burden and corporatization. The results suggest that corporatization is the driving factor for the trend observed in corporate tax revenues.

Suggested Citation

  • Joanna Piotrowska & Werner Vanborren, 2008. "The corporate income tax rate-revenue paradox: Evidence in the EU," Taxation Papers 12, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission, revised Oct 2008.
    • Handle: RePEc:tax:taxpap:0012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/resources/documents/taxation/gen_info/economic_analysis/tax_papers/taxation_paper_12_en.pdf
    File Function: final version, 2008
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sijbren Cnossen, 2002. "Tax Policy in the European Union," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 58(4), pages 466-558, November.
    2. David Carey & Harry Tchilinguirian, 2000. "Average Effective Tax Rates on Capital, Labour and Consumption," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 258, OECD Publishing.
    3. Roger H. Gordon & Jeffrey K. MacKie-Mason, 1995. "Why Is There Corporate Taxation in a Small Open Economy? The Role of Transfer Pricing and Income Shifting," NBER Chapters, in: The Effects of Taxation on Multinational Corporations, pages 67-94, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Gordon, Roger H. & Hines, James Jr, 2002. "International taxation," Handbook of Public Economics, in: A. J. Auerbach & M. Feldstein (ed.), Handbook of Public Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 28, pages 1935-1995, Elsevier.
    5. European Commission, 2013. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2013 edition," Taxation trends 2013, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    6. Carone, Giuseppe & Nicodème, Gaëtan & Schmidt, Jan, 2007. "Tax revenues in the European Union: Recent trends and challenges ahead," MPRA Paper 3996, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Creedy, John & Gemmell, Norman, 2009. "Corporation tax revenue growth in the UK: A microsimulation analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 614-625, May.
    8. European Commission, 2000. "Structures of the taxation systems in the European Union : 2000 edition," Taxation trends 2000, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    9. Ruud Mooij & Gaëtan Nicodème, 2008. "Corporate tax policy and incorporation in the EU," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 478-498, August.
    10. Gordon, R.H. & Mackie-Mason, J.K., 1994. "Why Is There Corporation Taxation in a Small Open Economy? The Role of Transfer Pricing and Income Shifting," Working Papers 359, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    11. Alan J. Auerbach & James M. Poterba, 1987. "Why Have Corporate Tax Revenues Declined?," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 1, pages 1-28, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Martin S. Feldstein & Paul R. Krugman, 1990. "International Trade Effects of Value-Added Taxation," NBER Chapters, in: Taxation in the Global Economy, pages 263-282, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Rosanne Altshuler & Timothy J. Goodspeed, 2015. "Follow the Leader? Evidence on European and US Tax Competition," Public Finance Review, , vol. 43(4), pages 485-504, July.
    14. Ruud Mooij, 2005. "Will Corporate Income Taxation Survive?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 277-301, September.
    15. European Commission, 1998. "Structures of the taxation systems in the European Union 1970-1996," Taxation trends 1998, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    16. repec:fth:michin:359 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Peter Birch Sørensen, 2007. "Can Capital Income Taxes Survive? And Should They?," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 53(2), pages 172-228, June.
    18. Rachel Griffith & Alexander Klemm, 2004. "What has been the tax competition experience of the past 20 years?," IFS Working Papers W04/05, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    19. European Commission, 2006. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2006 edition," Taxation trends 2006, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    20. repec:dgr:uvatin:20070030 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Michael P. Devereux & Rachel Griffith & Alexander Klemm, 2002. "Corporate income tax reforms and international tax competition [‘Do domestic firms benefit from direct foreign investment? Evidence from Venezuela’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 17(35), pages 449-495.
    22. Clemens Fuest & Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Alfons Weichenrieder, 2002. "Tax Competition and Profit Shifting: On the Relationship between Personal and Corporate Tax Rates," CESifo Working Paper Series 781, CESifo.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Taro Ohno & Masaki Hotei & Eiichiro Sato & Chie Umezaki, 2015. "Decomposition of the Variation of Corporate Tax Revenues : Based on Consideration of Corporate Tax Paradox-," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 11(2), pages 333-360, March.
    2. Simon Loretz & Margit Schratzenstaller, 2019. "Der EU-Vorschlag zur Harmonisierung der Körperschaftsteuer. Auswirkungen für Österreich," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 92(1), pages 61-71, January.
    3. Clemens Fuest & Felix Hugger & Susanne Wildgruber, 2022. "Why Is Corporate Tax Revenue Stable While Tax Rates Fall? Evidence from Firm-Level Data," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(3), pages 481-515.
    4. Estache, Antonio & Daxbek, Vincent, 2013. "How would the design of an alternative minimum tax impact the effective corporate tax rate in Belgium?," CEPR Discussion Papers 9481, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Jan Svitlík, 2015. "ETR Development and Analysis: Case from the Czech Republic," European Financial and Accounting Journal, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(4), pages 5-18.
    6. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Violeta Vulovic & Yongzheng Liu, 2011. "Direct versus Indirect Taxation: Trends, Theory, and Economic Significance," Chapters, in: Emilio Albi & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), The Elgar Guide to Tax Systems, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Boryana Madzharova, 2012. "Intertemporal Income Shifting in Expectation of Lower Corporate Tax Rates: The Tax Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp462, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    8. Yongzheng Liu & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2015. "Growth–Inequality Tradeoff in the Design of Tax Structure: Evidence from a Large Panel of Countries," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(2), pages 323-345, May.
    9. De Laet, Jean-Pierre & Wöhlbier, Florian, 2008. "Tax burden by economic function A comparison for the EU Member States," MPRA Paper 14761, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Bernardi, Luigi, 2009. "Le tasse in Europa dagli anni novanta [Taxation in Europe since the Years 1990s]," MPRA Paper 23441, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. N. N., 2019. "WIFO-Monatsberichte, Heft 1/2019," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 92(1), January.
    12. Slavomira Tahlova & Anna Banociova, 2019. "Assessment of Corporate Income Tax Revenues in the Light of Their Current Determinants," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 15(1), pages 87-97.
    13. Bernardi, L., 2012. "Heterogeneity of taxation in EA Member countries and some implications for EA fiscal governance," MPRA Paper 40050, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Spengel, Christoph & Heckemeyer, Jost Henrich & Bräutigam, Rainer & Nicolay, Katharina & Klar, Oliver & Stutzenberger, Kathrin, 2016. "The effects of tax reforms to address the debt-equity bias on the cost of capital and on effective tax rates," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, volume 65, number 148156, September.
    15. Escudero, Verónica & Ha, Byung-jin & Khatiwada, Sameer & Tobin, Steven, 2011. "Germany : a job-centred approach," Studies on Growth with Equity 463476, International Labour Office, Research Department.
    16. Escudero, Verónica. & Ha, Byung-jin. & Khatiwada, Sameer. & Tobin, Steven., 2011. "Germany : a job-centred approach," Studies on Growth with Equity, International Labour Office, Research Department, number 994634763402676, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. European Commission, 2009. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2009 edition," Taxation trends 2009, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    2. European Commission, 2008. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2008 edition," Taxation trends 2008, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    3. Ruud A. De Mooij & Gaëtan J.A. Nicodème & Gaëtan J.A. Nicodeme, 2006. "Corporate Tax Policy, Entrepreneurship and Incorporation in the EU," CESifo Working Paper Series 1883, CESifo.
    4. Marcin Piatkowski & Mariusz Jarmuzek, 2008. "Zero Corporate Income Tax in Moldova: Tax Competition and Its Implications for Eastern Europe," IMF Working Papers 2008/203, International Monetary Fund.
    5. European Commission, 2010. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2010 edition," Taxation trends 2010, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    6. Ruud Mooij & Gaëtan Nicodème, 2008. "Corporate tax policy and incorporation in the EU," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(4), pages 478-498, August.
    7. European Commission, 2007. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2007 edition," Taxation trends 2007, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    8. Gaëtan Nicodème, 2008. "Corporate Income Tax and Economic Distortions," Working Papers CEB 08-033.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    9. Simon Loretz, 2008. "Corporate taxation in the OECD in a wider context," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 639-660, winter.
    10. European Commission, 2011. "Tax Reforms in EU Member States 2011: tax policy challenges for economic growth and fiscal sustainability," Taxation Papers 28, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    11. Leon Bettendorf & Joeri Gorter & Albert van der Horst, 2006. "Who benefits from tax competition in the European Union?," CPB Document 125, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Clemens Fuest & Felix Hugger & Susanne Wildgruber, 2022. "Why Is Corporate Tax Revenue Stable While Tax Rates Fall? Evidence from Firm-Level Data," National Tax Journal, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(3), pages 481-515.
    13. European Commission, 2011. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2011 edition," Taxation trends 2011, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    14. Taro Ohno & Masaki Hotei & Eiichiro Sato & Chie Umezaki, 2015. "Decomposition of the Variation of Corporate Tax Revenues : Based on Consideration of Corporate Tax Paradox-," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 11(2), pages 333-360, March.
    15. König, Tobias & Wagener, Andreas, 2008. "(Post-)Materialist Attitudes and the Mix of Capital and Labour Taxation," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-404, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    16. European Commission, 2005. "Taxation trends in the European Union: 2005 edition," Taxation trends 2005, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    17. Kari Seppo, 2015. "Corporate tax in an international environment – Problems and possible remedies," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2015(1), pages 1-16, September.
    18. Zdeněk Hrdlička & Jana Ištvánfyová & Leoš Vítek, 2010. "Systémy účetnictví a evidence daňových příjmů vládních institucí [The System of Accounting for Government Tax Revenues]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2010(2), pages 253-270.
    19. Ondrej Schneider & Jan Zapal, 2006. "Fiscal Policy in New EU Member States: Go East, Prudent Man!," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 139-166.
    20. Huizinga, Harry & Laeven, Luc, 2008. "International profit shifting within multinationals: A multi-country perspective," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1164-1182, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate taxation; tax revenues; incorporation; corporatization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:tax:taxpap:0012. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Gaetan Nicodeme or Ana Xavier or Ioana Diaconescu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dtcecbe.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.