In this study, we shed light on the combined effect of corporate income tax and other government policies on multinational corporations’ (MNCs) strategic location and relocation of intellectual property. Using granular affiliate-level data for worldwide MNCs, we show that the location of...

There is room for improvement in the Canadian Revenue Agency's (CRA) auditing process, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Auditing the Auditors: Tax Auditors' Assessments and Incentives,” author Kenneth J. Klassen proposes that, in addition to traditional measures,...

Using a survey of tax executives from multinational corporations, we document that some firms set their transfer pricing strategy to minimize tax payments, but more firms focus on tax compliance. We estimate that a firm focusing on minimizing taxes has a GAAP effective tax rate that is 6.6...

We examine tax-motivated profit shifting as the outcome of corporate governance characteristics in multinational enterprises (MNEs). We propose a novel subsidiary-year measure of profit shifting, estimated from the responses of subsidiary profits to exogenous parent earnings shocks....

Many countries have imposed tax policies that limit the deductibility of interest costs, creating a plausibly exogenous increase in the net cost of borrowing. The limits are based on financial accounting numbers, adding a new incentive into managers’ choices. Firms in these countries are also...

The importance of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) audits to the administration of the Canadian tax system is self-evident. So is the need for CRA to conduct high-quality audits. While audit outcomes are subject to appeals and court challenge, it is not desirable to rely frequently on appeals and the...

We examine if and when investors systematically respond to SEC comment letters focusing on comment letters that contain tax-related issues. Using a sample of more than 10,000 comment letters from the Audit Analytics' SEC Comment Letter Database, we identify comment letters related to tax issues....