Intellectual Property Box Regime – U.S. Adaptation of an Intellectual Property Box Regime, A Tax Policy Perspective

This article examines the tax policy implications of imposing an intellectual property box (“IP Box”) regime in the United States and proposes that amid various tax policy considerations, inter alia, efficiencies, fairness, and administrability, the United States should institute an intellectual property box regime with domestic research and development (“R&D”) requirements. Further, the IP Box regime so instituted should encompass limited types of incomes derived from a broad range of intellectual properties. The article first presents a brief introduction on the current debates regarding possible implementation of a IP Box regime here in the United States. Next, I examine various tax incentives a government can employ to subsidize research and development. I then provide an overview of the history of IP Boxes and some recent developments in addition to dissecting various different nuances of different IP Box regimes. I subsequently analyze the merit of an IP Box in view of various tax policy considerations, and determine whether the United States should implement an IP Box regime. Conclusions are drawn according to these analyses and a design of a IP Box regime suitable for the United States is proposed. The article contributes to the existing jurisprudence by providing a tax policy perspective on the implementation of a IP Box regime