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Bilateral internal debt financing and tax planning of multinational firms

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  • Michael Overesch
  • Georg Wamser

Abstract

This paper examines how taxes affect bilateral internal debt financing among foreign entities of multinational firms. Our data allows us to construct precise bilateral tax-rate differentials between borrowers and lenders of internal debt, which are found to be positively related to internal debt financing of borrowing entities. Compared with previous studies, the estimated tax-elasticity of internal debt exceeds earlier findings by far, most probably accruing to the bilateral specification of tax incentives. Additional investigations on whether and to what extent countries effectively impose anti-tax-avoidance measures show that thin-capitalization rules in host countries are particularly effective. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

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  • Michael Overesch & Georg Wamser, 2014. "Bilateral internal debt financing and tax planning of multinational firms," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 191-209, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:42:y:2014:i:2:p:191-209
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-012-0339-3
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    4. Overesch Michael, 2016. "Steuervermeidung multinationaler Unternehmen: Die Befunde der empirischen Forschung," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 129-143, July.
    5. Zhou, Fuzhao & Shao, Pei & Xie, Feixue & Huang, Jianning, 2023. "The governance role of lender monitoring: Evidence from Borrowers' tax planning," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    6. Ruf Martin & Schindler Dirk, 2015. "Debt Shifting and Thin-Capitalization Rules – German Experience and Alternative Approaches," Nordic Tax Journal, Sciendo, vol. 2015(1), pages 17-33, September.
    7. Lejour, Arjan & Mohlmann, Jan & van't Riet, Maarten & Benschop, Thijs, 2019. "Dutch Shell Companies and International Tax Planning," Discussion Paper 2019-024, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    8. Reiter, Franz, 2017. "Avoiding Taxes: Banks' Use of Internal Debt," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168115, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Bofinger, Peter & Schnabel, Isabel & Feld, Lars P. & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Wieland, Volker, 2015. "Zukunftsfähigkeit in den Mittelpunkt. Jahresgutachten 2015/16 [Focus on Future Viability. Annual Report 2015/16]," Annual Economic Reports / Jahresgutachten, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung, volume 127, number 201516, September.
    10. Lindner, Thomas & Klein, Florian & Schmidt, Stefan, 2018. "The effect of internationalization on firm capital structure: A meta-analysis and exploration of institutional contingencies," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1238-1249.
    11. Arjan Lejour & Maarten van 't Riet, 2023. "Disentangling business- and tax-motivated bilateral royalty flows," CPB Discussion Paper 450, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Nicola Comincioli & Paolo Panteghini & Sergio Vergalli, 2020. "Debt Shifting and Transfer Pricing in a Volatile World," CESifo Working Paper Series 8807, CESifo.
    13. Arjan Lejour & Jan Möhlmann & Maarten ’t Riet, 2022. "The immeasurable tax gains by Dutch shell companies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(2), pages 316-357, April.
    14. Lindner, Thomas & Puck, Jonas & Stocco, Giulia, 2023. "Asymmetric risk perception and firm financing in the institutional envelope," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3).
    15. Nicolay, Katharina & Nusser, Hannah & Pfeiffer, Olena, 2017. "On the interdependency of profit shifting channels and the effectiveness of anti-avoidance legislation," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-066, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Thanh Ngo & Jurica Susnjara, 2020. "Government contracts and US bond yield spreads: A study on costs and benefits of materialized political connections," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(7-8), pages 1059-1085, July.
    17. Carmen Bachmann & Martin Baumann & Konrad Richter, 2018. "The effects on investment incentives of an allowance for corporate equity tax system: the Belgian case as an example," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 51(4), pages 943-965, November.
    18. Rechbauer, Martina, 2016. "Identifying firms' tax loss carry-forward status: The accuracy of database-ariven methods," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 201, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Capital structure; Corporate taxation; Bilateral tax-rate differentials; Internal debt; Firm-level data; G30; G32; H24; H25;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

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