Reshaping R&D Tax Incentive Policy in Terms of International Tax Competition

Policies to stimulate research and development are significant in the government’s agenda and affect businesses growing internationally. The article highlights the role of tax incentives in the policy mix to promote private research and development (R&D). It discusses evolution and recent trends in R&D tax incentive schemes in European countries. The impact of international tax competition on their adoption and generosity is investigated. Moreover, a decision-making model on implementation and generosity of R&D tax incentives is introduced.

Capital Taxation and International Cooperation

This chapter addresses the causes and consequences of automatic cross-border exchange of taxpayer information (AEI). First, we argue that the introduction of AEI was enabled by the willingness of the United States to exert its superior economic power. Second, we find that AEI leads to shifts of international investment out of tax havens, while at the same time very sophisticated tax evaders have been able to use loopholes in the AEI regime. Third, we focus on the impact of AEI on domestic tax policies and show that AEI removes the pressure of international tax competition and enables governments to increase taxes on internationally mobile capital. International cooperation in the form of AEI increases the domestic policy space of governments under conditions of economic globalization and may enable a return to more progressive tax systems and a reversion of the trend of rising income and wealth inequality.

International tax competition and foreign direct investment in the Asia–Pacific region: a panel data analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how a country's competitive tax policy influences its inward foreign direct investments (FDI) in the Asia–Pacific region, even when given particular constraints (e.g., population, public governance, skilled labor, and so on) exist.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses the system GMM estimation approach to test the hypothesis. Data on FDI, corporate income tax, and various confounding factors were drawn from Ernst and Young's worldwide corporate tax guide, the World Bank, and other sources to create a panel of 28 economies over the period 2000–2016.FindingsThe present research confirms the negative association between corporate income tax (CIT) and FDI inflows. The effects of other confounding factors on FDI net inflows are also supported (e.g., connectivity, GDP per capita, population, skilled labor, and trade openness). Our results support the argument that foreign investments may be more sensitive to CIT. Therefore, CIT is an effective indicator to observe international tax competition.Originality/valueThe present research uses rich data on statutory CIT and other economic and public governance factors to investigate the relationship between tax competition and FDI inflows in the Asia–Pacific region. The findings add important supplements to the nuanced understanding of the political-economic dynamics in this region, especially when cut-throat tax competition, trade tensions, and stagnant economic growth have been key challenges for global economies.

Assessment of the impact of capital cost recovery on the international tax competitiveness of OECD countries and Ukraine

The article presents an assessment of the impact of capital cost recovery policies of the OECD countries and Ukraine on their international tax competitiveness, based on a comparison of the treatments of investment in machinery, buildings, and intangibles that a business can recover through the tax code via depreciation. The rating of the international tax competitiveness of the OECD countries and Ukraine is based on the standardized capital allowances. Although the assessment of international tax competitiveness is expressed by the only indicator, such as capital allowances, it serves to prove that international tax competition is responded not only by reducing tax rates but also by defining a business tax base. According to the results of the study, the dominant position in the ranking of the OECD countries is occupied by countries that are able to recover higher costs of capital investments (over 68%). These countries are characterized by particularly high (by international standards) capital allowances for equipment and intangibles (over 82%). Unfortunately, due to the lack of tax harmonization of the Ukrainian tax system, specifically its treatment of capital allowances, with the EU and OECD countries, Ukraine falls behind in the ranking of international tax competitiveness. Thus, in order to enhance the competitiveness of the domestic corporate income tax system, Ukraine's treatment of capital investments in core assets, especially buildings and intangibles, should be improved and brought in line with both modern Ukrainian socio-economic realities and the capital cost recovery provisions accepted in the OECD.

The Impact of Globalization and International Tax Competition on Tax Policies

The aim of the paper is to determine to what extent the strengthening of the transparency of the Ukrainian economy and its incorporation in international tax competition affects the tax policy of the country and the peculiarities of its tax system. In the study, the logical analysis of the direct and inverse relationship of changes in taxation with such manifestations of globalization, as the movement of capital and labor resources from Ukraine and to the country, is combined with an empirical (regression) analysis of the relationship between globalization and the main characteristics of the Ukrainian tax system. It is proved that the increase of incorporation of Ukraine in globalization processes, despite the reduction of taxes on the main factors of production, is accompanied by an increase in the general level of tax burden on the economy (tax rate). The above mentioned is a consequence of increase of other taxes, including excise, caused both by internal needs of Ukraine (conducting the policy of fiscal consolidation caused by large public debt, and increasing defense expenditures) and its international obligations (EU Association Agreement). The tax system in Ukraine is much stronger (about 25%) influenced by the general index of globalization in comparison with its subindex characterizing the economic component of globalization. Obviously, this is owing to the greater influence on taxation in Ukraine of other components of globalization such as political and social one. The results show that the growth of the globalization index is accompanied by rather expected effects such as reduction of corporate profit tax rates and personal income tax, transferring the tax burden from capital to labor and, to a greater extent, on consumption, improving business conditions in the context of tax payments, and specific increase in the general level of tax burden on the economy, significant losses of the state that is not so much from the reduction of tax rates as from the erosion of the tax base on income, which is the result of a combination of negative effects of external and internal factors; the threat of escalating the policy of low tax rates. It is recommended to the Ukrainian Government to focus increasingly on the tax evolution trends in post-socialist EU countries to strengthen Ukraine`s position in tax competition with this group of countries.