Tax Complexity and Compliance Costs of U.S. Multinational Corporations

31 Pages Posted: 16 Apr 2001 Last revised: 13 Jan 2019

See all articles by Dennis R. Lassila

Dennis R. Lassila

Texas A&M University - Department of Accounting

Murphy Smith

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi-Department of Accounting

Abstract

Complex tax laws and the costs of complying with those laws are a major concern to U.S. multinational corporations. High costs of complying with complex tax rules and the nature of these rules are widely viewed as an impediment to the ability of U.S. multinational corporations to effectively compete in the international business arena and place them at a competitive disadvantage relative to multinational corporations chartered in other countries. This study examines tax compliance costs of U.S. multinational corporations over the years 1986 through 1988, the years immediately preceding and following passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Research objective: determine the extent to which tax compliance costs increased over that period, the provisions of the act that most profoundly contributed to those increased costs, and other factors contributing to the tax complexity faced by U.S. multinational corporations.

Keywords: International tax issues; tax complexity; multinational corporations; tax compliance costs

JEL Classification: M4

Suggested Citation

Lassila, Dennis R. and Smith, Murphy, Tax Complexity and Compliance Costs of U.S. Multinational Corporations. Advances in International Accounting, Volume 10, pp. 207-237, 1997, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=247726

Dennis R. Lassila

Texas A&M University - Department of Accounting ( email )

430 Wehner
College Station, TX 77843-4353
United States
979-845- 4584 (Phone)

Murphy Smith (Contact Author)

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi-Department of Accounting ( email )

6300 Ocean Dr
Corpus Christi, TX 78412
United States

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