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This chapter examines the ethics and business diplomacy of legal tax avoidance by multinational enterprises (MNEs).
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter examines the ethics and business diplomacy of legal tax avoidance by multinational enterprises (MNEs).
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology assembles the relevant literature and examines alternative interpretations of corporate tax strategy. Key topics include business ethics and responsibility, business sustainability, economic patriotism and corporate inversions, tax havens, and possible solutions.
Findings
The debate concerns whether legal tax avoidance is unethical and/or poor business diplomacy. There are three possible strategies for MNEs. One strategy is intentional tax avoidance. Another strategy is business–government negotiation concerning tax liability. Another strategy is business diplomacy aimed at maximizing the social legitimacy of the firm across multiple national tax jurisdictions.
Social implications
The chapter assesses four possible solutions for corporate tax avoidance. One solution is voluntary tax payments beyond legal obligations whether out of a sense of ethics or a strategy of business diplomacy. A second solution is international tax cooperation and tax harmonization in ways that minimize opportunities for tax avoidance. A third solution is increased stakeholder pressure emphasizing business diplomacy and tax cooperation and harmonization. The fourth solution is negotiated tax liabilities between each business and each jurisdiction.
Originality/value
The chapter provides an original systematic survey of the key aspects of corporate international tax avoidance in an approach in which business ethics and business diplomacy are better integrated. The value of the chapter is that it provides information and assembles relevant literature concerning corporate international tax avoidance, and addresses possible solutions for this problem.
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Mohammed Amidu, William Coffie and Philomina Acquah
This paper aims to investigate how transfer pricing (TP) and earnings management affect tax avoidance of firms in Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how transfer pricing (TP) and earnings management affect tax avoidance of firms in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use a panel data set from 2008 to 2015 to further shed light on transfer pricing-tax avoidance nexus by examining the complex interaction of three key variables: transfer pricing, earnings management and tax avoidance.
Findings
The results show that almost all the sample firms have engaged in some form of transfer pricing strategies and the manipulation of earnings to avoid tax during 2008-2015. There is evidence to suggest that non-financial multinational corporations manipulate more earnings than the financial firms while financial firms also use more TP than non-financial firms. The overall results suggest that the sensitivity of tax avoidance to transfer pricing decreases as firms increase their earnings management. By extension, these results have important policy implication for policymakers in assessing the effectiveness of tax laws relating to transfer pricing.
Originality/value
The authors investigate how transfer pricing and earnings management affect the avoidance of firms operating in Ghana.
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Kavita Pandey, Surendra S. Yadav and Seema Sharma
The present research identifies a total of nine factors influencing tax avoidance under the international taxation regime of the developing countries and establishes a…
Abstract
Purpose
The present research identifies a total of nine factors influencing tax avoidance under the international taxation regime of the developing countries and establishes a hierarchical relationship through modeling of the identified factors using modified-total interpretive structural modeling (M-TISM).
Design/methodology/approach
Due to “scale without mass” properties of the digital economy, businesses reduce their physical presence in the countries of economic activities. Aided with digital features, multinational enterprises (MNEs) avoid, abolish, or adopt flexible tax burden in the developing nations through by-passing the permanent establishment condition for company taxes or the income characterization prerequisite for royalty taxation. The present research endeavors to identify the drivers of tax avoidance in the developing countries, especially exacerbated due to digital technologies (economy). In addition, the authors also examine the hierarchical relation between the extracted drivers of tax avoidance.
Findings
This research presents a considerable driving force of elements like historical foundation of tax-treaties, dominance of the developed countries, influence of trade bodies in policy matters and finally information and communications technologies (ICTs).
Originality/value
Identified elements drive the actors like professional enablers, tax havens, international organizations, and intangible assets in the form of intellectual properties (IPs) which act upon tax arbitrage situations both under the domestic and treaty regulations, finally culminating into profit shifting, tax manipulations or avoidance.
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Stephanie Walton and Michael Killey
This study examines the impact of expanded geographical disclosures on nonprofessional investor judgments. Public country-by-country reporting (CBCR) is a way to increase…
Abstract
This study examines the impact of expanded geographical disclosures on nonprofessional investor judgments. Public country-by-country reporting (CBCR) is a way to increase corporate transparency, enhancing tax fairness and accountability (European Commission, 2016). Public disclosure would make large multinational companies share information about profits, taxes paid, and number of employees on a per-country basis. However, it is unclear whether nonprofessional investors would even use CBCR and how they would interpret the information. Adding to the policy debate on whether publicly available country-by-country information will be properly used, this study employs an experimental design to investigate the effect of disclosure availability and content on nonprofessional investor judgments. We find that participants receiving an expanded disclosure are able to more accurately assess the state of the social contract between the organization and society, imposing sanctions if necessary. Exploring CBCR provides timely evidence to regulators, standard setters, and tax fairness campaigners on the impact of expanded geographical disclosures as a means of increasing transparency and improving competitiveness.
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A systematic assessment of multinational enterprise (MNE) tax minimisation strategies at the firm level is difficult. This paper aims to present systematic evidence for Ireland of…
Abstract
Purpose
A systematic assessment of multinational enterprise (MNE) tax minimisation strategies at the firm level is difficult. This paper aims to present systematic evidence for Ireland of tax minimisation strategies at both an aggregate and individual firm level. The paper uses Apple and Google as its case studies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on 31 US intellectual property (IP)-intensive MNEs with substantial operations in Ireland. Financial and other data including tax payments were extracted from Form 10K and filings in Companies Registration Office in Ireland.
Findings
The paper develops three different measures of effective tax rates and that tax strategies have resulted in effective tax rates lower than the nominal US tax rate and far lower than those published in company accounts. Although two-thirds of profits are earned outside the USA, around 70 per cent of corporate tax is paid in the USA.
Research limitations/implications
The paper relies on data from a subset of MNEs operating in Ireland. The paper also uses publicly available data which may not be available for all firms.
Practical implications
The findings have implications for European Union (EU) tax policy and tax revenues in countries where MNEs operate. The paper also has implications for industrial policy based on attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Social implications
The study has implications not only for the equitable distribution of corporate tax payments and income distribution but also especially for a tax-based industrial policy.
Originality/value
MNE tax strategies, although of considerable public interest, are often obscure and poorly understood. The paper is original in providing a detailed examination of MNE tax strategies at the firm level and discussing some implications from a public policy perspective.
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Walid El Hamad, Lee Moerman and Sanja Pupovac
This paper aims to use rhetorical theory to understand how actors mobilise persuasive communication to justify the arguments for and against transfer pricing and tax management…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to use rhetorical theory to understand how actors mobilise persuasive communication to justify the arguments for and against transfer pricing and tax management schemes in an international context. The strategic adoption of transfer pricing by transnational corporations is controversial since it affects wealth transfers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a micro-rhetorical analysis of submissions to a recent government Inquiry in Australia based on Aristotle's appeals of logos, ethos and pathos. The arguments used by Chevron Australia, and its protagonist civil society organisation, the Tax Justice Network highlight the vexed nature of tax management schemes.
Findings
Transfer pricing (TP) is more than a mere technical practice, as it involves wealth transfers initiated by powerful economic players. From a neoliberal justification of fair markets and shareholder wealth maximisation, the moral ambiguity is attenuated because it is accepted as a normative social ideal.
Originality/value
Prior studies on TP and tax schemes are primarily theoretical and conceptual. This paper adopts a rhetorical approach which provides important insights into the communication devices used to legitimate taken-for-granted ideas about corporate actions.
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William E. Shafer and Richard S. Simmons
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of attitudes toward the perceived importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, and Machiavellianism, a general…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of attitudes toward the perceived importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, and Machiavellianism, a general measure of the propensity for manipulative and deceitful behaviour, on tax professionals' willingness to participate in aggressive tax avoidance schemes of corporate clients.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a survey of tax professionals in Hong Kong.
Findings
The paper finds that Machiavellianism affects tax advisors' expressed viewpoints toward the importance of corporate ethics and social responsibility, which affect professional judgements toward aggressive tax minimisation. As anticipated, high Machiavellians are more likely to endorse the traditional “stockholder view” of corporate responsibility (which holds that corporations have little responsibility beyond maximising their profits), and less likely to support the “stakeholder view” (which recognises corporate responsibilities to a broader range of potential stakeholders). The stockholder view (but not the stakeholder view) of corporate responsibility mediates the relationship between Machiavellianism and ethical/social responsibility judgements. Machiavellianism also had significant direct effects on ethical and social responsibility judgements.
Originality/value
The paper provides insights into the decision processes used to justify aggressive tax minimisation strategies. The findings indicate that commonly articulated views toward corporate ethics and social responsibility may be used to support unethical strategies. In particular, the finding that the stockholder view mediates the relationship between Machiavellianism and ethical/social responsibility judgements suggests that the stockholder view may be adopted to rationalise overly aggressive tax avoidance.
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Akanksha Jalan and R. Vaidyanathan
This paper is an effort to demystify tax havens – what they mean, what they offer and why they are harmful. It offers a detailed analysis of abusive tax planning by multinational…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is an effort to demystify tax havens – what they mean, what they offer and why they are harmful. It offers a detailed analysis of abusive tax planning by multinational corporations, involving the use of tax havens, shedding light on how corporations use “egregious” tax-sheltering techniques right from their incorporation to avoid payment of income taxes. The paper also discusses global efforts against the phenomenon and policy recommendations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper brings together definitions from various sources to accurately define and identify tax haven economies. The key contribution of the paper is to diagrammatically explain the use of tax havens by MNCs right from the time they are incorporated. It explains how every big and small corporate decision is motivated by the desire to save taxes and how tax havens come in handy for such corporations.
Findings
This paper finds that base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) is a pervasive phenomenon, largely due to the suppliers of tax haven operations. Here, corporate decisions are divided into strategic and operational and further subdivided into investing, operating and financing activities, and provide real-life corporate examples of how tax havens fit into almost every corporate decision. This is the key contribution of the paper.
Research limitations/implications
This is a review paper that sums up knowledge about tax havens and their use by MNCs. It does not, however, use empirical data to corroborate its findings. It would be interesting to see empirically whether MNCs with greater tax haven operations actually have lower effective tax rates.
Practical implications
The paper can provide a framework for designing tax policies in a manner that geographical arbitrage can be minimized. It can enable formulation of the necessary incentive structures in the form of penalties, rewards and the like for both the users and providers of tax haven services to curb massive base and profit shifting out of high-tax countries.
Social implications
The paper is one small step in the direction of bringing about equality in tax payments, i.e. to align real tax systems with the canon of equality that Adam Smith once dreamt of. Taxes should be progressive in nature, implying that the amount of taxes paid should increase with one’s income. However, with the advent of offshore financial centres and egregious tax planning techniques, only the smaller corporations and middle-class individuals end up paying taxes, while the rich and bigger corporations get away easily.
Originality/value
The paper explores in detail the manner in which MNCs use, rather exploit, regulatory loopholes in tax systems of different countries to save on tax payments. By shifting their tax base from one country to another, MNCs not only hamper Treasury collections but also breed disrespect for the global tax system. The paper can help in designing tax laws in tune with such corporate motives.
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This paper aims to examine tax leakages in secrecy financial centres.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine tax leakages in secrecy financial centres.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative study relies on primary data from relevant statutes and secondary data from the public domain and in particular academic sources. The study makes concurrent use of the case study approach.
Findings
The study reinforces existing suggestions that tax evasion is significantly widespread from advanced to emerging economies. It also suggests serious enforcement difficulties because of light-touch surveillance among competing tax havens and financial professionals. Further, while relevant laws are in place to deal with illicit activities, enhanced transparency is needed to quell the problem and, in this instance, public access to beneficial owner data such as exemplified by UK’s public registry approach. The US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act is proving to be effective, and similar expectations are raised for the equivalent the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development initiative from 2017 onwards.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is constrained with the general limitations associated with qualitative studies. These are, however, mitigated by triangulations of perspectives and so on.
Practical implications
The findings have implications for policymakers and the business community.
Social implications
The findings could help to narrow inequality gaps between and within economies.
Originality/value
The paper combines insights from high-profile cases with those from academic sources. The analysis is also undertaken from the combined perspectives of law, economics and accounting. It also focuses in secrecy issues in both offshore and onshore financial centres.
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Bronwyn McCredie and Kerrie Sadiq
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether corporates, via publicly disclosed sentiment and in response to government initiatives such as domestic corporate tax…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether corporates, via publicly disclosed sentiment and in response to government initiatives such as domestic corporate tax reform measures that address transparency, are beginning to view tax as a fourth dimension of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Design/methodology/approach
To determine whether corporate attitudes towards tax are changing, representations about the corporate entity by a variety of stakeholders and through numerous channels were analysed using Leximancer software. These representations were in response to four distinct Australian domestic tax reform measures instituted during and subsequent to the Australian Government Senate Inquiry into corporate tax avoidance. The use of Leximancer, a data-analysis and mapping software that automates the coding of document text, delineates concepts and identifies themes, is well suited to the nature and size of the data used (Lodhia and Martin, 2011) and ensures the validity and reliability of the results (Dumay, 2014).
Findings
This paper provides evidence on the efficacy of global and domestic tax-reform measures that target tax avoidance through transparency. This is demonstrated by a progressive change in corporate attitudes towards tax and suggests a transition, albeit nascent, from the aggregate view to the real entity view of a corporation. As such, this study provides evidence of the inception of a corporate conscience when it comes to tax, whereby tax is instituted as a fourth dimension of CSR.
Research limitations/implications
Using a theoretical framework which adopts the historically accepted views of the firm, the authors argue that a shift from the aggregate view to the real entity view of a corporation will have the following implications: an expansion of the dimensional factors of CSR (economic, social, environmental and tax); a new standard or definition of corporate responsibility which encompasses both legal and moral considerations and has transparency at its core (Narotzki, 2016); and a new outlook where consumers realise that they have the power to influence and demand action from corporates.
Originality/value
This paper uses state-of-the-art software to empirically test the efficacy of global and domestic tax reform measures that target transparency, ultimately providing evidence supporting the adoption of these measures and the recognition of a new dimension of CSR, tax.
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