Imperfect tax competition for profits, asymmetric equilibrium and beneficial tax havens

TY - JOUR

T1 - Imperfect tax competition for profits, asymmetric equilibrium and beneficial tax havens

AU - Johannesen, Niels

N1 - JEL classification codes: F23, F21, H26, H87

PY - 2010/7

Y1 - 2010/7

N2 - We present a model of tax competition for real investment and profits and show that the presence of tax havens in some cases increases the tax revenue of countries. In the first part of the paper, we argue that tax competition for profits is likely to be imperfect in the sense that the jurisdiction with the lowest tax rate does not necessarily attract all shifted profits. Under this assumption, tax competition between a large number of identical countries may lead to either a symmetric equilibrium with no profit shifting or an asymmetric equilibrium where firms shift profits from high-tax to low-tax countries. In the second part of the paper, we introduce tax havens. Starting from a symmetric equilibrium, tax havens unambiguously reduce the tax revenue of countries due to a 'leakage effect' - tax havens attract tax base from countries - and a 'competition effect' - the optimal response to the increased tax sensitivity of tax bases involves a reduction of tax rates. Starting from an asymmetric equilibrium, however, tax havens also raise the tax revenue of countries through a 'crowding effect' - tax havens make it less attractive to compete for profits and thus induce low-tax countries to become high-tax countries. We demonstrate that the latter effect may dominate the former effects so that countries, on balance, benefit from the presence of tax havens.

AB - We present a model of tax competition for real investment and profits and show that the presence of tax havens in some cases increases the tax revenue of countries. In the first part of the paper, we argue that tax competition for profits is likely to be imperfect in the sense that the jurisdiction with the lowest tax rate does not necessarily attract all shifted profits. Under this assumption, tax competition between a large number of identical countries may lead to either a symmetric equilibrium with no profit shifting or an asymmetric equilibrium where firms shift profits from high-tax to low-tax countries. In the second part of the paper, we introduce tax havens. Starting from a symmetric equilibrium, tax havens unambiguously reduce the tax revenue of countries due to a 'leakage effect' - tax havens attract tax base from countries - and a 'competition effect' - the optimal response to the increased tax sensitivity of tax bases involves a reduction of tax rates. Starting from an asymmetric equilibrium, however, tax havens also raise the tax revenue of countries through a 'crowding effect' - tax havens make it less attractive to compete for profits and thus induce low-tax countries to become high-tax countries. We demonstrate that the latter effect may dominate the former effects so that countries, on balance, benefit from the presence of tax havens.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - tax competition

KW - profit shifting

KW - tax havens

U2 - 10.1016/j.jinteco.2010.04.002

DO - 10.1016/j.jinteco.2010.04.002

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0022-1996

VL - 81

SP - 253

EP - 264

JO - Journal of International Economics

JF - Journal of International Economics

IS - 2

ER -