Disclosure and Civil Penalty Rules in the U.S. Legal Response to Corporate Tax Shelters

2008 ◽  
pp. 229-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Shaviro
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Legal Response ◽  
Tax Shelters ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Civil Penalty

Transocean and the History of Tax Inversions

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Susan M. Albring ◽  
Randal J. Elder ◽  
Mitchell A. Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Income Taxes ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Corporate Income Taxes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Jobs Act ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Over Time

ABSTRACT The first tax inversion in 1983 was followed by small waves of subsequent inversion activity, including two inversions completed by Transocean. Significant media and political attention focused on transactions made by U.S. multinational corporations that were primarily designed to reduce U.S. corporate income taxes. As a result, the U.S. government took several actions to limit inversion activity. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) significantly lowered U.S. corporate tax rates and one expected impact of TCJA is a reduction of inversion activity. Students use the Transocean inversions to understand the reasons why companies complete a tax inversion and how the U.S. tax code affects inversion activity. Students also learn about the structure of inversion transactions and how they have changed over time as the U.S. government attempted to limit them. Students also assess the tax and economic impacts of inversion transactions to evaluate tax policy.

Brewing Up Controversy: A Case Exploring the Ethics of Corporate Tax Planning

2015 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 311-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan F. Hess ◽  
Raquel Meyer Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Tax Avoidance ◽  
Tax Planning ◽  
Learning Assessment ◽  
Class Discussion ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Tax Havens ◽  
Multinational Organizations ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT This instructional case explores the ethical issues surrounding the corporate tax-planning and tax-avoidance strategies of multinational organizations. Drawing on the real-world experiences of SABMiller, one of the world's largest beverage companies, this case provides a launching point for students to consider the ethics of corporate tax planning. The ethics of multinational tax practices, especially the use of tax havens, has recently become the focus of media and legislative debate in both the U.S. and the U.K., and many well-respected companies, such as General Electric, Apple Inc., and Starbucks are now feeling the pressure to reform. In a post-case learning assessment, students demonstrated significant improvement in their understanding and indicated that they enjoyed discussing this controversial issue. The “Implementation Guidance” section and Teaching Notes offer guidance for in-class discussion of the ethical and tax issues in this case.

scholarly journals Abuses and Penalties of a Corporate Tax Inversion

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
James Yang ◽  
Leonard Lauricella ◽  
Frank Aquilino
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
International Taxation ◽  
Internal Revenue Service ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Tax Base ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Tax Savings ◽  
Treasury Department ◽  
The U.S

There is a serious problem in international taxation today. Many United States (U.S.) multinational corporations have moved abroad to take advantage of a lower tax rate in a foreign country. As a consequence, the tax base in the U.S. has been seriously eroded. This practice is known as “corporate tax inversion”. This paper discusses the abuses and penalties of this phenomenon. It is rooted in some deficiencies in the U.S. tax law. This paper points out that the U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the world. It imposes tax on worldwide income. It permits deferral of tax on foreign-sourced income until dividends are repatriated back to the U.S. As a result, it creates tax loopholes. This paper reveals six actual cases of corporate tax inversion. This practice has triggered the Congress to enact §7874, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to issue Notices IR 2014-52 and IR 2015-79, and the U.S. Treasury Department to promulgate TD 9761. This paper investigates some details of these penalties. This paper further demonstrates an example in determining the amount of tax savings by engaging in a corporate tax inversion. It also offers many strategies.

Seeking Shelter: Empirically Modeling Tax Shelters Using Financial Statement Information

2010 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. 1693-1720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petro Lisowsky
Keyword(s):  
Financial Statement ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Effective Tax Rates ◽  
Tax Havens ◽  
Tax Aggressiveness ◽  
Fin 48 ◽  
Tax Shelter ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Tax Shelters

ABSTRACT: Using confidential tax shelter and tax return data obtained from the Internal Revenue Service, this study develops and validates an expanded model for inferring the likelihood that a firm engages in a tax shelter. Results show that tax shelter likelihood is positively related to subsidiaries located in tax havens, foreign-source income, inconsistent book-tax treatment, litigation losses, use of promoters, profitability, and size, and negatively related to leverage. Supplemental tests show that total book-tax differences (BTDs) and the contingent tax liability reserve are significantly related to tax shelter usage, while discretionary permanent BTDs and long-run cash effective tax rates are not. Finally, the model is weaker, yet still significant, in the FIN 48 disclosure environment. This research provides investors and policymakers with an extended, validated measure to calculate the presence of extreme cases of corporate tax aggressiveness. Such information could also aid analysts and other tax and non-tax researchers in assessing the benefits and risks of firm behavior.

THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF OIL SPILL FINGERPRINTING1

1979 ◽  
Vol 1979 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
Alan P. Bentz ◽  
Stanley L. Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
The United States ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Identification System ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Oil Spill Identification ◽  
Civil Penalty

ABSTRACT In several recent court cases, evidence of an oil “fingerprint” has been used to identify the source of an oil spill. As a result, those responsible for the spill have been required to pay a civil penalty and to reimburse the United States for the cost of cleaning up the oil. The use of such evidence in court supports the conclusion that the U.S. Coast Guard's oil spill identification system is both scientifically and legally sound.

Earnings Management, Corporate Tax Shelters, and Book-Tax Alignment

2009 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihir A. Desai ◽  
Dhammika Dharmapala
Keyword(s):  
Earnings Management ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Tax Shelters

An Examination of Corporate Tax Shelter Participants

2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 969-999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan J. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Abnormal Returns ◽  
Wealth Creation ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Managerial Opportunism ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Tax Shelter ◽  
Ex Post ◽  
Tax Shelters ◽  
Aggressive Financial Reporting

ABSTRACT: Recent evidence suggests that corporate tax shelters have become important corporate instruments for reducing tax burden. Based on a sample of identified tax shelter participants, I develop a profile of the type of firm that likely engages in tax sheltering. The model detects tax shelter participants through the use of variables predicted to be either affected by or associated with tax sheltering. I find that firms actively engaged in tax sheltering exhibit larger ex post book-tax differences and more aggressive financial reporting practices. Using this model of tax shelter firm characteristics, I identify a broad sample of predicted tax shelter firms from the population of firms. I then examine whether tax sheltering is associated with wealth creation for shareholders or with managerial opportunism. I find that active tax shelter firms with strong corporate governance exhibit positive abnormal returns. This finding is consistent with tax sheltering being a tool for wealth creation in well-governed firms.

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