This paper discusses the issue of profit shifting and ‘aggressive’ tax planning by multinational firms. The paper makes two contributions. Firstly, we provide some background information to the debate by giving a brief overview over existing empirical studies on profit shifting and by...

We use a unique matched tax return-financial statement data set to examine the magnitude and sources of book-tax differences in Germany. For the first time, the data set enables us to evaluate the extent to which financial and tax accounting differ in Germany in the most accurate manner. Despite...

After intensive and extensive preparation, the European Commission released the long-awaited proposal for a Council Directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) on March 16, 2011. In the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy, major objectives of the proposed CCCTB are the...

The article assesses the impact of a Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) as promoted by the European Commission and the related Working Groups on the effective tax burdens of companies in all 27 EU member states. The results shall help to evaluate the economic consequences of introducing a...

Ongoing tax reform processes, competitive pressures and the consequences of the financial and sovereign debt crisis have considerably shaped the tax systems of the Member States of the European Union in the last two decades. Our paper combines a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the...

We study the effect of digital tax measures on firm value. By employing an event study methodology, we analyze investor reaction to the European Commission's proposals on the taxation of digital corporations. Examining the stock returns of potentially affected corporations surrounding the draft...

After intensive and extensive preparation, the European Commission released the long-awaited proposal for a Council Directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) on March 16, 2011. In the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy, major objectives of the proposed CCCTB are the...

The impact of corporate income taxes on location decisions of firms is widely debated in the tax competition literature. Tax rate differences across jurisdictions may lead to distortions of firms` investment decisions. Empirical evidence on tax induced relocation and subsequent economic...

Ergänzend zu dem im ifo Schnelldienst 11/2004 diskutierten Thema "Sollte die Unternehmensbesteuerung innerhalb der EU harmonisiert werden?" plädiert Prof. Dr. Christoph Spengel, Universität Gießen, für eine Angleichung der effektiven Unternehmenssteuerbelastungen innerhalb der EU. Dazu...