IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/arqudp/269.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Losses never sleep: The effect of tax loss offset on stock market returns during economic crises

Author

Listed:
  • Koch, Reinald
  • Holtmann, Svea
  • Giese, Henning

Abstract

We analyze to what extent more generous tax loss offset regulations are associated with a weaker decline and stronger recovery of firm stock prices during economic crises. We argue that an unrestricted loss carryforward and, particularly, an unrestricted loss carryback provides firms with additional liquidity, which should lower the risk of bankruptcy and can be used for investment purposes. Our empirical findings document that (1) an unrestricted loss carryforward and an unrestricted loss carryback result in a weaker decline and more timely recovery of stock prices during the considered crises, (2) this effect is stronger in high-tax countries, and (3) this effect is also dependent upon pre-crisis profitability.

Suggested Citation

  • Koch, Reinald & Holtmann, Svea & Giese, Henning, 2022. "Losses never sleep: The effect of tax loss offset on stock market returns during economic crises," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 269, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:arqudp:269
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/253647/1/1800619804.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Horta, Paulo & Lagoa, Sérgio & Martins, Luís, 2014. "The impact of the 2008 and 2010 financial crises on the Hurst exponents of international stock markets: Implications for efficiency and contagion," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 140-153.
    2. Downs, Thomas W & Tehranian, Hassan, 1988. "Predicting Stock Price Responses to Tax Policy Changes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 1118-1130, December.
    3. Johannesen, Niels & Larsen, Dan Thor, 2016. "The power of financial transparency: An event study of country-by-country reporting standards," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 120-122.
    4. Verena K. Dutt & Christopher A. Ludwig & Katharina Nicolay & Heiko Vay & Johannes Voget, 2019. "Increasing tax transparency: investor reactions to the country-by-country reporting requirement for EU financial institutions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(6), pages 1259-1290, December.
    5. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    6. Scott D. Dyreng & Bradley P. Lindsey, 2009. "Using Financial Accounting Data to Examine the Effect of Foreign Operations Located in Tax Havens and Other Countries on U.S. Multinational Firms' Tax Rates," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5), pages 1283-1316, December.
    7. Rosanne Altshuler & Alan J. Auerbach & Michael Cooper & Matthew Knittel, 2009. "Understanding US Corporate Tax Losses," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 23, pages 73-122, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Wang, Albert Y. & Young, Michael, 2020. "Terrorist attacks and investor risk preference: Evidence from mutual fund flows," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(2), pages 491-514.
    9. Devereux, Michael P. & Fuest, Clemens, 2009. "Is the Corporation Tax an Effective Automatic Stabilizer?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 62(3), pages 429-437, September.
    10. Hanlon, Michelle & Slemrod, Joel, 2009. "What does tax aggressiveness signal? Evidence from stock price reactions to news about tax shelter involvement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 126-141, February.
    11. Drake, Katharine D. & Hamilton, Russ & Lusch, Stephen J., 2020. "Are declining effective tax rates indicative of tax avoidance? Insight from effective tax rate reconciliations," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1).
    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. Reinald Koch & Svea Holtmann & Henning Giese, 2023. "Losses never sleep – The effect of tax loss offset on stock market returns during economic crises," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 59-109, January.
    2. Klein, Daniel & Ludwig, Christopher A. & Spengel, Christoph, 2019. "Ring-fencing digital corporations: Investor reaction to the European Commission's digital tax proposals," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-050, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Müller, Raphael & Spengel, Christoph & Vay, Heiko, 2020. "On the determinants and effects of corporate tax transparency: Review of an emerging literature," ZEW Discussion Papers 20-063, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Flagmeier, Vanessa & Müller, Jens & Sureth, Caren, 2020. "When do firms highlight their effective tax rate?," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 259, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    5. Verena K. Dutt & Christopher A. Ludwig & Katharina Nicolay & Heiko Vay & Johannes Voget, 2019. "Increasing tax transparency: investor reactions to the country-by-country reporting requirement for EU financial institutions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(6), pages 1259-1290, December.
    6. Prianto Budi Saptono & Gustofan Mahmud & Intan Pratiwi & Dwi Purwanto & Ismail Khozen & Lambang Wiji Imantoro & Maria Eurelia Wayan, 2024. "Book-Tax Differences during the Crisis: Does Corporate Social Responsibility Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-38, August.
    7. Müller, Raphael & Spengel, Christoph & Weck, Stefan, 2021. "How do investors value the publication of tax information? Evidence from the European public country-by-country reporting," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-077, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Habib Saragih, Arfah & Ali, Syaiful & Suwardi, Eko & Utomo, Hargo, 2024. "Finding the missing pieces to an optimal corporate tax savings: Information technology governance and internal information quality," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    9. Osswald, Benjamin, 2018. "Corporate tax planning and firms' information environment," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 236, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    10. Subagio Efendi & Salim Darmadi & Robert Czernkowski, 2022. "Are Financial Institutions Tax Aggressive? Evidence From Corporate Tax Return Data," Bulletin of Monetary Economics and Banking, Bank Indonesia, vol. 25(2), pages 175-204, August.
    11. Kubick, Thomas R. & Lockhart, G. Brandon & Mills, Lillian F. & Robinson, John R., 2017. "IRS and corporate taxpayer effects of geographic proximity," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 428-453.
    12. Martin Jacob & Anna Rohlfing-Bastian & Kai Sandner, 2021. "Why do not all firms engage in tax avoidance?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 459-495, February.
    13. John Gallemore & Brandon Gipper & Edward Maydew, 2019. "Banks as Tax Planning Intermediaries," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 169-209, March.
    14. Burcin Col & Saurin Patel, 2019. "Going to Haven? Corporate Social Responsibility and Tax Avoidance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(4), pages 1033-1050, February.
    15. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2016_005 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Cooper, Maggie & Nguyen, Quyen T.K., 2019. "Understanding the interaction of motivation and opportunity for tax planning inside US multinationals: A qualitative study," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(6), pages 1-1.
    17. Abdullah Almutairi & Baban Eulaiwi & Robert Evans & Grantley Taylor, 2023. "Tax Haven Use and Related‐Party Transactions: Evidence from Australia," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 33(4), pages 352-374, December.
    18. Taylor, Grantley & Richardson, Grant, 2013. "The determinants of thinly capitalized tax avoidance structures: Evidence from Australian firms," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 12-25.
    19. Hope, Ole-Kristian & Ma, Mark (Shuai) & Thomas, Wayne B., 2013. "Tax avoidance and geographic earnings disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 170-189.
    20. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Blouin, Jennifer L. & Jagolinzer, Alan D. & Larcker, David F., 2015. "Corporate governance, incentives, and tax avoidance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 1-17.
    21. Weichieh Su & Danchi Tan, 2018. "Business Groups and Tax Havens," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 1067-1081, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    tax loss offset; economic crisis; firm performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises

    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:zbw:arqudp:269. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.arqus.info/ .

    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.