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Income Taxation and Business Incorporation: Evidence from the Early Twentieth Century

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  • Li Liu

    (Centre for Business Taxation, University of Oxford)

Abstract

If the corporate income tax is set at a different rate from non-corporate in-come tax, it can play an important role in a firm’s choice of organizational form. The impact and interdependency of income tax incentives are crucial factors in the formation of designing efficient tax policies. In this paper I exploit the variation in income taxes across U.S. states in the early twentieth century to estimate these sensitivities. Potential endogeneity of state taxes is addressed using an IV approach. The results demonstrate that the relative taxation of corporate to personal income has a significant impact on the corporate share of economic activities. On average, a one percent increase in corporate taxes is associated with 0.2-0.3 percent decreases the corporate share of economic activities, whereas a one per-cent increase in personal taxes raises the corporate share of economic activities by 0.5-0.6 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Liu, 2012. "Income Taxation and Business Incorporation: Evidence from the Early Twentieth Century," Working Papers 1205, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    • Handle: RePEc:btx:wpaper:1205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. On the effects of income tax to the private businesses
      by bearodr in NEP-HIS blog on 2012-11-08 18:23:20

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    Cited by:

    1. Kazuki Onji & John P. Tang, 2015. "A nation without a corporate income tax: Evidence from nineteenth century Japan," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 15-12, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    2. Harald J. Amberger & Saskia Kohlhase, 2023. "International taxation and the organizational form of foreign direct investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(8), pages 1529-1561, October.
    3. Lejour, Arjan & Massenz, Gabriella, 2020. "Income Shifting and Organizational Form Choice : Evidence from Europe," Other publications TiSEM 3138edef-d645-4113-9981-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    4. Michael P. Devereux & Li Liu & Simon Loretz, 2014. "The Elasticity of Corporate Taxable Income: New Evidence from UK Tax Records," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 19-53, May.
    5. Bergner, Sören Martin & Bräutigam, Rainer & Evers, Maria Theresia & Spengel, Christoph, 2017. "The use of SME tax incentives in the European Union," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-006, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Waseem, Mazhar, 2018. "Taxes, informality and income shifting: Evidence from a recent Pakistani tax reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 41-77.
    7. Ege Can, 2022. "Income taxation, entrepreneurship, and incorporation status of self-employment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(5), pages 1260-1293, October.
    8. Onji, Kazuki & Tang, John P., 2017. "Taxes and the Choice of Organizational Form in Late Nineteenth Century Japan," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(2), pages 440-472, June.
    9. Michael P. Donohoe & Gary A. McGill & Edmund Outslay, 2014. "Risky Business: The Prosopography of Corporate Tax Planning," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(4), pages 851-874, December.
    10. Tazhitdinova, Alisa, 2020. "Are changes of organizational form costly? Income shifting and business entry responses to taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    11. Massenz, Gabriella, 2023. "On the behavioral effects of tax policy," Other publications TiSEM eb44a9f7-b859-480d-b2e4-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Corporate income tax; Personal income tax; Incorporation; Early Twentieth Century;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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