Over the years many proposals for global taxes – taxes levied on a world-wide basis – have been made. None has been successful, essentially because one cannot have global taxes without a global government. This paper first reviews some of the major global tax proposals and then considers...

How did the rise of multinational enterprises (MNEs) put pressure on the prevailing international corporate tax framework? MNEs, and firms with market power, are not new phenomena, nor is the corporate income tax, which dates to the early 20th century. This prompts the question, what is...

Since its conception, some within the European Union have expressed concerns over the ability of multinationals to avoid taxation by undertaking transfer pricing to shift profits towards low tax locations. These concerns have been growing, leading to a renewed call for a common consolidated...

This paper analyzes enhanced cooperation agreements in corporate taxation in a three country tax competition model where countries differ in size. We characterize equilibrium tax rates and the optimal tax responses due to the formation of an enhanced cooperation agreement. Conditions for...

Many countries have introduced patent box regimes in recent years, offering a reduced tax rate to businesses for their IP-related income. In this paper, we analyze the effects of patent box regimes when countries can simultaneously use patent boxes and R&D subsidies to promote innovation. We...

Abuse is one of the core issues in EU direct tax matters. Much has been written over the past years. The discussion on the interpretation and application of the different elements of the anti-abuse clauses appears to be settling. However, an equally fascinating discussion appears to be emerging:...

Motivated by the EU Commission s suggested company tax reforms, this paper investigates how cross-border loss offset and formulary apportionment of a consolidated tax base affect the investment and transfer pricing behaviour of a multijurisdictional firm, and how they affect the behaviour of...

Under international tax competition, corporate income tax rates are predicted to decrease, and the tax burden will shift onto immobile factors. This case study considers tax changes that illustrate the predictions for Norway 2012-2018. Petroleum rent was taxed at high rates in 2012, and while...

Heterogeneous firm productivity seems to provide an argument for governments to pursue 'pick-the-winner' strategies by subsidizing highly productive firms more, or taxing them less, than their less productive counterparts. We appraise this argument by studying the optimal choice of effective tax...