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The effect of intellectual property boxes on innovative activity & effective tax rates

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  • Bornemann, Tobias
  • Laplante, Stacie K.
  • Osswald, Benjamin

Abstract

We investigate whether the adoption of an intellectual property box increases innovative activity and what type of firms benefit. We examine the adoption of the intellectual property box in Belgium because it allows us to cleanly identify the impact on innovative activity and effective tax rates. Our results indicate an overall increase in innovative activity as proxied by patent grants, the efficiency with which firms apply for and receive patents, and employment. We also provide evidence that, while firms with patents on average enjoy lower effective tax rates, the greatest financial benefits accrue to multinational firms without income shifting opportunities, followed by domestic firms. Multinational firms with income shifting opportunities do not significantly benefit from the intellectual property box.

Suggested Citation

  • Bornemann, Tobias & Laplante, Stacie K. & Osswald, Benjamin, 2018. "The effect of intellectual property boxes on innovative activity & effective tax rates," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 234, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:arqudp:234
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Israel Silva-Gámez & Silvia Mariela Méndez-Prado & Andrés Arauz, 2022. "What’s Happening with the Patent Box Regimes? A Systematic Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.
    2. Bradley, Sebastien & Robinson, Leslie & Ruf, Martin, 2021. "The impact of IP box regimes on the M&A market," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2).
    3. Irina Dezhina & Tamam Nafikova & Timur Gareev & Alexey Ponomarev, 2020. "Tax Incentives for Supporting Competitiveness of Telecommunication Manufacturers," Foresight and STI Governance (Foresight-Russia till No. 3/2015), National Research University Higher School of Economics, vol. 14(2), pages 51-62.
    4. Konings, Jozef & Lecocq, Cathy & Merlevede, Bruno, 2018. "Does a Tax Credit matter for Job Creation by Multinational Enterprises?," CEPR Discussion Papers 13105, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Michel Dumont, 2019. "Working Paper 04-19 - Tax incentives for business R&D in Belgium - Third evaluation," Working Papers 1904, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    6. Bodo Knoll & Nadine Riedel, 2020. "Patent Shifing and Anti-Tax Avoidance Legislation," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 17(04), pages 25-29, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    IP boxes; tax incentive; tax avoidance; income shifting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies

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