IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/luc/wpaper/20-17.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of CFC-Rules on Tax Competition

Author

Listed:
  • Nora Paulus

    (Department of Economics and Management, Université du Luxembourg)

Abstract

(To consult this DP, please send an e-mail to dem@uni.lu) On July 16th 2016 the Economic and Financial Council of the European Union adopted the Anti-Tax-Avoidance Directive (ATAD). The proposed controlled-foreign-company (CFC) rule in the ATAD requires a minimum tax rate in the host country of a multinational's controlled foreign subsidiary in order to avoid the reattribution of the subsidiary's income to the country of its parent company. The Directive allows member states to remain free to set the CFC threshold autonomously by laying down a minimum standard. Member states can thus either opt for a loose CFC rule by setting the minimum required control threshold (i.e. 50% of the country's own corporate income tax rate) or impose a tight CFC rule by applying a higher threshold. Against this background, the present paper analyzes the effect of CFC rules on tax competition for foreign direct investments. It appears that, although CFC rules are effective in curbing offshore profit shifting, they can induce non-havens to compete aggressively for mobile capital. In this context, CFC rules can exacerbate capital outflows from the large to the small country to a larger extent than in standard models of tax competition. Moreover, the paper highlights that governments choose between two extreme options when deciding on their CFC rule. Either they opt for the lowest or the highest possible control threshold.

Suggested Citation

  • Nora Paulus, 2020. "The Impact of CFC-Rules on Tax Competition," DEM Discussion Paper Series 20-17, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    • Handle: RePEc:luc:wpaper:20-17
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.uni.lu/fdef-en/research-departments/department-of-economics-and-management/publications/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haufler, Andreas & Runkel, Marco, 2012. "Firms' financial choices and thin capitalization rules under corporate tax competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1087-1103.
    2. Sam Bucovetsky & Michael Smart, 2006. "The Efficiency Consequences of Local Revenue Equalization: Tax Competition and Tax Distortions," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 8(1), pages 119-144, January.
    3. Martin Ruf & Alfons J. Weichenrieder, 2012. "The taxation of passive foreign investment: lessons from German experience," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(4), pages 1504-1528, November.
    4. Wolfgang Eggert & Jun-Ichi Itaya, 2014. "Tax Rate Harmonization, Renegotiation, and Asymmetric Tax Competition for Profits with Repeated Interaction," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 16(5), pages 796-823, October.
    5. Pieretti, Patrice & Zanaj, Skerdilajda, 2011. "On tax competition, public goods provision and jurisdictions' size," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 124-130, May.
    6. Dreßler, Daniel & Scheuering, Uwe, 2012. "Empirical evaluation of interest barrier effects," ZEW Discussion Papers 12-046, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Trandel, Gregory A., 1994. "Interstate commodity tax differentials and the distribution of residents," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 435-457, March.
    8. Richard Collier & Seppo Kari & Olli Ropponen & Martin Simmler & Maximilian Todtenhaup, 2018. "Dissecting the EU’s Recent Anti-Tax Avoidance Measures: Merits and Problems," EconPol Policy Reports 8, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    9. Kanbur, Ravi & Keen, Michael, 1993. "Jeux Sans Frontieres: Tax Competition and Tax Coordination When Countries Differ in Size," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 877-892, September.
    10. Agrawal, David R. & Wildasin, David E., 2020. "Technology and tax systems," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    11. Pieretti, Patrice & Pulina, Giuseppe, 2020. "Does eliminating international profit shifting increase tax revenue in high-tax countries?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 717-727.
    12. Haufler, Andreas & Mardan, Mohammed & Schindler, Dirk, 2018. "Double tax discrimination to attract FDI and fight profit shifting: The role of CFC rules," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 25-43.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Nora Alice Paulus, 2022. "The anti‐tax‐avoidance directive: An initiative to successfully curb profit shifting?," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(3), pages 529-546, June.
    2. Yutao Han & Patrice Pieretti & Giuseppe Pulina, 2023. "The impact of tax and infrastructure competition on the profitability of local firms," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(2), pages 281-304, April.
    3. Nora Paulus & Patrice Pieretti & Benteng Zou, 2021. "Is a Dynamic Approach to Tax Games Relevant?," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 144, pages 113-138.
    4. Giuseppe Pulina & Skerdilajda Zanaj, 2022. "Tax competition and phantom FDI," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(6), pages 1342-1363, December.
    5. Yutao Han & Patrice Pieretti & Benteng Zou, 2017. "On The Desirability Of Tax Coordination When Countries Compete In Taxes And Infrastructure," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(2), pages 682-694, April.
    6. Zarko Y. Kalamov, 2020. "Safe haven or earnings stripping rules: a prisoner’s dilemma?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(1), pages 38-76, February.
    7. Hayato Kato & Hirofumi Okoshi, 2022. "Economic Integration And Agglomeration Of Multinational Production With Transfer Pricing," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(3), pages 1325-1355, August.
    8. Brülhart, Marius & Bucovetsky, Sam & Schmidheiny, Kurt, 2015. "Taxes in Cities," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1123-1196, Elsevier.
    9. Han, Yutao & Pieretti, Patrice & Zanaj, Skerdilajda & Zou, Benteng, 2014. "Asymmetric competition among nation states: A differential game approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 71-79.
    10. Amendolagine, Vito & De Pascale, Gianluigi & Faccilongo, Nicola, 2021. "International capital mobility and corporate tax revenues: How do controlled foreign company rules and innovation shape this relationship?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    11. Yutao Han & Xi Wan, 2019. "Who benefits from partial tax coordination?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 1620-1640, May.
    12. Michael Overesch & Dirk Schindler & Georg Wamser, 2024. "Design and Consequences of CFC and GILTI Rules: A Review and Potential Lessons for the Global Minimum Tax," CESifo Working Paper Series 11018, CESifo.
    13. Patricia Sanz‐Córdoba & Bernd Theilen, 2018. "Partial Tax Harmonization Through Infrastructure Coordination," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1399-1416, April.
    14. Yutao Han, 2013. "Who benefits from partial tax coordination?," DEM Discussion Paper Series 13-24, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    15. Jean Gabszewicz & Ornella Tarola & Skerdilajda Zanaj, 2016. "Migration, wages and income taxes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(3), pages 434-453, June.
    16. Jan Jacobs & Jenny Ligthart & Hendrik Vrijburg, 2010. "Consumption tax competition among governments: Evidence from the United States," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(3), pages 271-294, June.
    17. Brekke, Kurt R. & Levaggi, Rosella & Siciliani, Luigi & Straume, Odd Rune, 2014. "Patient mobility, health care quality and welfare," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 140-157.
    18. Haufler, Andreas & Lülfesmann, Christoph, 2015. "Reforming an asymmetric union: On the virtues of dual tier capital taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 116-127.
    19. Lucas, Vander, 2004. "Cross-border shopping in a federal economy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 365-385, July.
    20. Andreas Haufler & Mohammed Mardan & Dirk Schindler, 2016. "Optimal Policies against Profit Shifting: The Role of Controlled-Foreign-Company Rules," CESifo Working Paper Series 5850, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax Competition; Controlled-Foreign-Company Rules.;

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H87 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - International Fiscal Issues; International Public Goods

    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:luc:wpaper:20-17. 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: Marina Legrand (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/crcrplu.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.