The Economics of Corporate and Business Tax Reform

36 Pages Posted: 11 May 2016

See all articles by Dhammika Dharmapala

Dhammika Dharmapala

UC Berkeley School of Law; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Date Written: April 21, 2016

Abstract

The reform of corporate and business taxation is central to current tax policy debates in the United States. This paper provides a framework for analyzing reform proposals by describing the lessons from current economic research for business tax reform, addressing both international and domestic reforms within a unified perspective. The paper begins by identifying ten potential inefficiencies created by the current corporate tax regime. It then discusses three classes of reform proposals. The first involves a substantially lower corporate tax rate and a territorial regime. The second is a formula apportionment system. The third category includes a destination-based cash flow tax. The paper evaluates each of these proposals in the light of the framework introduced earlier. It concludes that the relatively modest reforms currently under discussion would address only a few of these margins. In contrast, more fundamental reforms would eliminate all or most of the inefficiencies of corporate taxation.

Keywords: corporate tax, business taxation, international taxation, tax reform, territorial taxation, formula apportionment, cash flow tax

JEL Classification: H250, F230

Suggested Citation

Dharmapala, Dhammika, The Economics of Corporate and Business Tax Reform (April 21, 2016). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5864, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2778454 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2778454

Dhammika Dharmapala (Contact Author)

UC Berkeley School of Law ( email )

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) ( email )

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