Author: OECD
Publisher: Org. for Economic Cooperation & Development
ISBN: 9789264272040
Category : Intangible property
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This paper set forth internationally agreed principles and standards for the value added tax (VAT) treatment of the most common types of international transactions, with a particular focus on trade in services and intangibles. Its aim is to minimise inconsistencies in the application of VAT in a cross-border context with a view to reducing uncertainty and risks of double taxation and unintended non-taxation in international trade. It also includes the recommended principles and mechanisms to address the challenges for the collection of VAT on crossborder sales of digital products that had been identified in the context of the OECD/G20 Project on Base and Erosion and Profit Shifting (the BEPS Project).
International VAT/GST Guidelines
Author: OECD
Publisher: Org. for Economic Cooperation & Development
ISBN: 9789264272040
Category : Intangible property
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This paper set forth internationally agreed principles and standards for the value added tax (VAT) treatment of the most common types of international transactions, with a particular focus on trade in services and intangibles. Its aim is to minimise inconsistencies in the application of VAT in a cross-border context with a view to reducing uncertainty and risks of double taxation and unintended non-taxation in international trade. It also includes the recommended principles and mechanisms to address the challenges for the collection of VAT on crossborder sales of digital products that had been identified in the context of the OECD/G20 Project on Base and Erosion and Profit Shifting (the BEPS Project).
Publisher: Org. for Economic Cooperation & Development
ISBN: 9789264272040
Category : Intangible property
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This paper set forth internationally agreed principles and standards for the value added tax (VAT) treatment of the most common types of international transactions, with a particular focus on trade in services and intangibles. Its aim is to minimise inconsistencies in the application of VAT in a cross-border context with a view to reducing uncertainty and risks of double taxation and unintended non-taxation in international trade. It also includes the recommended principles and mechanisms to address the challenges for the collection of VAT on crossborder sales of digital products that had been identified in the context of the OECD/G20 Project on Base and Erosion and Profit Shifting (the BEPS Project).
Tax Theory Applied to the Digital Economy
Author: Cristian Óliver Lucas-Mas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781464816543
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This book analyzes the tax disruptive aspects of new digital business models to determine the need for new tax measures to address the tax challenges of the digitalization of the economy, and presents a proposal for the adoption of a Digital Data Tax (DDT) and a Global Internet Tax Agency (GITA).
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781464816543
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
This book analyzes the tax disruptive aspects of new digital business models to determine the need for new tax measures to address the tax challenges of the digitalization of the economy, and presents a proposal for the adoption of a Digital Data Tax (DDT) and a Global Internet Tax Agency (GITA).
Corporate Income Taxes under Pressure
Author: Ruud A. de Mooij
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513511777
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 388
Book Description
The book describes the difficulties of the current international corporate income tax system. It starts by describing its origins and how changes, such as the development of multinational enterprises and digitalization have created fundamental problems, not foreseen at its inception. These include tax competition—as governments try to attract tax bases through low tax rates or incentives, and profit shifting, as companies avoid tax by reporting profits in jurisdictions with lower tax rates. The book then discusses solutions, including both evolutionary changes to the current system and fundamental reform options. It covers both reform efforts already under way, for example under the Inclusive Framework at the OECD, and potential radical reform ideas developed by academics.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1513511777
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 388
Book Description
The book describes the difficulties of the current international corporate income tax system. It starts by describing its origins and how changes, such as the development of multinational enterprises and digitalization have created fundamental problems, not foreseen at its inception. These include tax competition—as governments try to attract tax bases through low tax rates or incentives, and profit shifting, as companies avoid tax by reporting profits in jurisdictions with lower tax rates. The book then discusses solutions, including both evolutionary changes to the current system and fundamental reform options. It covers both reform efforts already under way, for example under the Inclusive Framework at the OECD, and potential radical reform ideas developed by academics.
Taxing Multinationals
Author: Lorraine Eden
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 9780802007766
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 788
Book Description
Eden examines how transfer pricing has been handled in different disciplines, including international business, economics, accounting, law and public policy.
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 9780802007766
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 788
Book Description
Eden examines how transfer pricing has been handled in different disciplines, including international business, economics, accounting, law and public policy.
Tax and the Digital Economy
Author: Werner Haslehner
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
ISBN: 9403503351
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 429
Book Description
The increasingly digitalized global economy is undermining the usefulness of many traditional tax concepts. In addition to issues of double taxation and double non-taxation, important questions arise concerning the allocation of taxing rights in respect of income from cross-border digital transactions. This is the first book to analyse what changes are possible, necessary and feasible in order to forestall the unravelling of the existing international tax framework. Focusing in turn on the legal framework, specific proposals for adapting tax concepts for the digital economy, types of transactions and administrative issues such as those around data protection and digital currencies, the expert contributors discuss such challenges to taxation as the following: the pervasiveness of intangible assets; new value creation models; the ascendance of the sharing economy and digital services; virtual currencies; the importance of user participation for digital platforms; cloud computing; the impact of Big Data on tax enforcement; virtual business presence; and the influence of robotization. Throughout, the authors describe and analyse proposals made by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Union (EU) and individual countries and their likely impact going forward. They also attend to the limits imposed on reform possibilities by public international law, EU law and constitutional law. It is generally acknowledged that there is a need to monitor how the digital transformation may be impacting value creation. This book is a key milestone toward developing a durable, long-term solution to the tax challenges posed by the digitalization of the economy. With its thorough scrutiny of proposals for digital services tax and virtual permanent establishments, insightful analysis of digital services and detailed description of the impact of big data on tax administration and taxpayer protection, it will quickly prove indispensable for tax practitioners and the international tax community more generally.
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
ISBN: 9403503351
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 429
Book Description
The increasingly digitalized global economy is undermining the usefulness of many traditional tax concepts. In addition to issues of double taxation and double non-taxation, important questions arise concerning the allocation of taxing rights in respect of income from cross-border digital transactions. This is the first book to analyse what changes are possible, necessary and feasible in order to forestall the unravelling of the existing international tax framework. Focusing in turn on the legal framework, specific proposals for adapting tax concepts for the digital economy, types of transactions and administrative issues such as those around data protection and digital currencies, the expert contributors discuss such challenges to taxation as the following: the pervasiveness of intangible assets; new value creation models; the ascendance of the sharing economy and digital services; virtual currencies; the importance of user participation for digital platforms; cloud computing; the impact of Big Data on tax enforcement; virtual business presence; and the influence of robotization. Throughout, the authors describe and analyse proposals made by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Union (EU) and individual countries and their likely impact going forward. They also attend to the limits imposed on reform possibilities by public international law, EU law and constitutional law. It is generally acknowledged that there is a need to monitor how the digital transformation may be impacting value creation. This book is a key milestone toward developing a durable, long-term solution to the tax challenges posed by the digitalization of the economy. With its thorough scrutiny of proposals for digital services tax and virtual permanent establishments, insightful analysis of digital services and detailed description of the impact of big data on tax administration and taxpayer protection, it will quickly prove indispensable for tax practitioners and the international tax community more generally.
The Allocation of Multinational Business Income: Reassessing the Formulary Apportionment Option
Author: Richard Krever
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
ISBN: 9403506156
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
The Allocation of Multinational Business Income: Reassessing the Formulary Apportionment Option Edited by Richard Krever & François Vaillancourt Although arm’s length methodology continues to prevail in international taxation policy, it has long been replaced by the formulary apportionment method at the subnational level in a few federal countries. Its use is planned for international profit allocation as an element of the European Union’s CCCTB proposals. In this timely book – a global guide to formulary apportionment, both as it exists in practice and how it might function internationally – a knowledgeable group of contributors from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, address this actively debated topic, both in respect of its technical aspects and its promise as a global response to the avoidance, distortions, and unfairness of current allocation systems. Drawing on a wealth of literature considering formulary apportionment in the international sphere and considering decades of experience with the system in the states and provinces of the United States and Canada, the contributors explicate and examine such pertinent issues as the following: the debate about what factors should be used to allocate profits under a formulary apportionment system and experience in jurisdictions using formulary apportionment; application of formulary apportionment in specific sectors such as digital enterprises and the banking industry; the political economy of establishing and maintaining a successful formulary apportionment regime; formulary apportionment proposals for Europe; the role of traditional tax criteria such as economic efficiency, fairness, ease of administration, and robustness to avoidance and incentive compatibility; determining which parts of a multinational group are included in a formulary apportionment unit; and whether innovative profit-split methodologies such as those developed by China are shifting traditional arm’s length methods to a quasi-formulary apportionment system. Providing a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the formulary apportionment option, this state of the art summary of history, current practice, proposals and prospects in the ongoing debate over arm’s length versus formulary apportionment methodologies will be welcomed by practitioners, policy-makers, and academics concerned with international taxation, all of whom will gain an understanding of the case put forward by proponents for adoption of formulary apportionment in Europe and globally and the counter-arguments they face. Readers will acquire a better understanding of the implications of formulary apportionment and its central role in the current debate about the future of international taxation rules. “...providing (sic) all the intellectual ammunition needed to carefully re-examine one of the ideas traditionally considered as apocryphal by the OECD and to a significant portion of the tax professional community...readers of this book will come away not only with a renewed understanding of the multiple facets of formulary apportionment, but also of some of the fundamental pressure points in the international tax system. Accordingly, it is a welcome and timely addition to the literature. ” Dr. Stjepan Gadžo, Assistant Professor at University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law / British Tax Review 2021, Issue 2, p243-246
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
ISBN: 9403506156
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 314
Book Description
The Allocation of Multinational Business Income: Reassessing the Formulary Apportionment Option Edited by Richard Krever & François Vaillancourt Although arm’s length methodology continues to prevail in international taxation policy, it has long been replaced by the formulary apportionment method at the subnational level in a few federal countries. Its use is planned for international profit allocation as an element of the European Union’s CCCTB proposals. In this timely book – a global guide to formulary apportionment, both as it exists in practice and how it might function internationally – a knowledgeable group of contributors from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, address this actively debated topic, both in respect of its technical aspects and its promise as a global response to the avoidance, distortions, and unfairness of current allocation systems. Drawing on a wealth of literature considering formulary apportionment in the international sphere and considering decades of experience with the system in the states and provinces of the United States and Canada, the contributors explicate and examine such pertinent issues as the following: the debate about what factors should be used to allocate profits under a formulary apportionment system and experience in jurisdictions using formulary apportionment; application of formulary apportionment in specific sectors such as digital enterprises and the banking industry; the political economy of establishing and maintaining a successful formulary apportionment regime; formulary apportionment proposals for Europe; the role of traditional tax criteria such as economic efficiency, fairness, ease of administration, and robustness to avoidance and incentive compatibility; determining which parts of a multinational group are included in a formulary apportionment unit; and whether innovative profit-split methodologies such as those developed by China are shifting traditional arm’s length methods to a quasi-formulary apportionment system. Providing a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the formulary apportionment option, this state of the art summary of history, current practice, proposals and prospects in the ongoing debate over arm’s length versus formulary apportionment methodologies will be welcomed by practitioners, policy-makers, and academics concerned with international taxation, all of whom will gain an understanding of the case put forward by proponents for adoption of formulary apportionment in Europe and globally and the counter-arguments they face. Readers will acquire a better understanding of the implications of formulary apportionment and its central role in the current debate about the future of international taxation rules. “...providing (sic) all the intellectual ammunition needed to carefully re-examine one of the ideas traditionally considered as apocryphal by the OECD and to a significant portion of the tax professional community...readers of this book will come away not only with a renewed understanding of the multiple facets of formulary apportionment, but also of some of the fundamental pressure points in the international tax system. Accordingly, it is a welcome and timely addition to the literature. ” Dr. Stjepan Gadžo, Assistant Professor at University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law / British Tax Review 2021, Issue 2, p243-246
Jurisdiction to Tax Corporate Income Pursuant to the Presumptive Benefit Principle
Author: Eva Escribano
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
ISBN: 940350644X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 254
Book Description
Jurisdiction to Tax Corporate Income Pursuant to the Presumptive Benefit Principle intends to demonstrate that the profit shifting phenomenon (i.e., the ability of companies to book their profits in jurisdictions other than those that host their economic activities) is real, severe, undesirable, and above all, the natural consequence of both the preservation of three fundamental paradigms that have historically underlain corporate income taxes and their precise legal configuration. In view of this, the book submits a number of proposals in relation to the aforementioned paradigms and in the light of the suggested “presumptive benefit principle” so as to counteract profit shifting risks and thus attain a more equitable allocation of taxing rights among States. This PhD thesis obtained the prestigious European Academic Tax Thesis Award 2018 granted by the European Commission and the European Association of Tax Law Professors. What’s in this book: This book provides a disruptive discourse on tax sovereignty in the field of corporate income taxation that endeavors to escape from long-standing tax policy tendencies and prejudices while considering the challenges posed by a globalized (and increasingly digitalized) economy. In particular, the book offers an innovative perspective on certain deep-rooted paradigms historically underlying corporate income taxation: tax treatment of related parties within a corporate group along with the arm’s-length standard; corporate tax residence standards; and definition of source for corporate income tax purposes, with a particular emphasis on the permanent establishment concept. The book explores their respective origins, supposed tax policy rationales, structural problems and interactions; ultimately showing how the way tax jurisdiction is currently defined through them inherently tends to trigger profit shifting outcomes. In view of the conclusions of the study, the author suggests the use of a new version of the traditional benefit principle (the “presumptive benefit principle”) that would contribute to address the profit shifting phenomenon while serving as a practical guideline to achieve a more equitable allocation of taxing rights among jurisdictions. Finally, the book submits a number of proposals inspired by the aforementioned guideline that aspire to strike a balance between equity, effectiveness and technical feasibility. They include a new corporate tax residence test and, most notably, a proposal on a new remote-sales permanent establishment. How this will help you: With its case study (based on the Apple group) empirically demonstrating the existence of the profit shifting phenomenon, its clearly documented exposure of the reasons why traditional corporate income tax regimes systematically give rise to these outcomes, its new tax policy guideline and its proposals for reform, this book makes a significant contribution to current tax policy discussions concerning corporate income taxation in cross-border scenarios. It will be warmly welcomed by all concerned—policymakers, scholars, practitioners—with the greatest tax policy challenges that corporate income taxation is facing in the contemporary world.
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
ISBN: 940350644X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 254
Book Description
Jurisdiction to Tax Corporate Income Pursuant to the Presumptive Benefit Principle intends to demonstrate that the profit shifting phenomenon (i.e., the ability of companies to book their profits in jurisdictions other than those that host their economic activities) is real, severe, undesirable, and above all, the natural consequence of both the preservation of three fundamental paradigms that have historically underlain corporate income taxes and their precise legal configuration. In view of this, the book submits a number of proposals in relation to the aforementioned paradigms and in the light of the suggested “presumptive benefit principle” so as to counteract profit shifting risks and thus attain a more equitable allocation of taxing rights among States. This PhD thesis obtained the prestigious European Academic Tax Thesis Award 2018 granted by the European Commission and the European Association of Tax Law Professors. What’s in this book: This book provides a disruptive discourse on tax sovereignty in the field of corporate income taxation that endeavors to escape from long-standing tax policy tendencies and prejudices while considering the challenges posed by a globalized (and increasingly digitalized) economy. In particular, the book offers an innovative perspective on certain deep-rooted paradigms historically underlying corporate income taxation: tax treatment of related parties within a corporate group along with the arm’s-length standard; corporate tax residence standards; and definition of source for corporate income tax purposes, with a particular emphasis on the permanent establishment concept. The book explores their respective origins, supposed tax policy rationales, structural problems and interactions; ultimately showing how the way tax jurisdiction is currently defined through them inherently tends to trigger profit shifting outcomes. In view of the conclusions of the study, the author suggests the use of a new version of the traditional benefit principle (the “presumptive benefit principle”) that would contribute to address the profit shifting phenomenon while serving as a practical guideline to achieve a more equitable allocation of taxing rights among jurisdictions. Finally, the book submits a number of proposals inspired by the aforementioned guideline that aspire to strike a balance between equity, effectiveness and technical feasibility. They include a new corporate tax residence test and, most notably, a proposal on a new remote-sales permanent establishment. How this will help you: With its case study (based on the Apple group) empirically demonstrating the existence of the profit shifting phenomenon, its clearly documented exposure of the reasons why traditional corporate income tax regimes systematically give rise to these outcomes, its new tax policy guideline and its proposals for reform, this book makes a significant contribution to current tax policy discussions concerning corporate income taxation in cross-border scenarios. It will be warmly welcomed by all concerned—policymakers, scholars, practitioners—with the greatest tax policy challenges that corporate income taxation is facing in the contemporary world.
Digital Development of the European Union
Author: David Ramiro Troitiño
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031273125
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 375
Book Description
This edited volume analyses the digital development of the European Union, presenting an interdisciplinary perspective from the disciplines of political science, international relations, economics, and law. The contributions address the main areas where the EU can, and should act, for creating an efficient and protective digital space in Europe. The book highlights the responsibility of the European Union to work on the future of its digital development, looking for prosperity and defending the European conception of society. It explains how European values must be incorporated into the digital revolution and shows how the digital revolution of the EU will defend the Europeans from new threats. The book's comprehensive approach allows the reader to understand this process without in-depth knowledge of the specific discipline. Therefore, it is a must-read for everybody interested in a better understanding of digital development, European Union policy, and the future of Europe.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031273125
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 375
Book Description
This edited volume analyses the digital development of the European Union, presenting an interdisciplinary perspective from the disciplines of political science, international relations, economics, and law. The contributions address the main areas where the EU can, and should act, for creating an efficient and protective digital space in Europe. The book highlights the responsibility of the European Union to work on the future of its digital development, looking for prosperity and defending the European conception of society. It explains how European values must be incorporated into the digital revolution and shows how the digital revolution of the EU will defend the Europeans from new threats. The book's comprehensive approach allows the reader to understand this process without in-depth knowledge of the specific discipline. Therefore, it is a must-read for everybody interested in a better understanding of digital development, European Union policy, and the future of Europe.
Corporate Taxation in the Global Economy
Author: International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 149830219X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 91
Book Description
The policy paper Corporate Taxation in the Global Economy stresses the need to maintain and build on the progress in international cooperation on tax matters that has been achieved in recent years, and in some respects now appears under stress. With special attention to the circumstances of developing countries, the paper identifies and discusses various options currently under discussion for the international tax system to ensure that countries, and in particular low-income countries, can continue to collect corporate tax revenues from multinational activities.
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 149830219X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 91
Book Description
The policy paper Corporate Taxation in the Global Economy stresses the need to maintain and build on the progress in international cooperation on tax matters that has been achieved in recent years, and in some respects now appears under stress. With special attention to the circumstances of developing countries, the paper identifies and discusses various options currently under discussion for the international tax system to ensure that countries, and in particular low-income countries, can continue to collect corporate tax revenues from multinational activities.
Corporate Tax Reform
Author: Jane Gravelle
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781978091900
Category : Corporations
Languages : en
Pages : 66
Book Description
Interest in corporate tax reform that lowers the rate and broadens the base has developed in the past several years. Some discussions by economists in opinion pieces have suggested there is an urgent need to lower the corporate tax rate, but not necessarily to broaden the tax base, an approach that presents some difficulties given current budget pressures. Others see the corporate tax as a potential source of revenue. Arguments for lowering the corporate tax rate include the traditional concerns about economic distortions arising from the corporate tax and newer concerns arising from the increasingly global nature of the economy. Some claims have been made that lowering the corporate tax rate would raise revenue because of the behavioral responses, an effect that is linked to an open economy. Although the corporate tax has generally been viewed as contributing to a more progressive tax system because the burden falls on capital income and thus on higher-income individuals, claims have also been made that the burden falls not on owners of capital, but on labor income. The analysis in this report suggests that many of the concerns expressed about the corporate tax are not supported by empirical evidence. Claims that behavioral responses could cause revenues to rise if rates were cut do not hold up on either a theoretical or an empirical basis. Studies that purport to show a revenue-maximizing corporate tax rate of 30% (a rate lower than the current statutory tax rate) contain econometric errors that lead to biased and inconsistent results; when those problems are corrected the results disappear. Cross-country studies to provide direct evidence showing that the burden of the corporate tax actually falls on labor yield unreasonable results and prove to suffer from econometric flaws that also lead to a disappearance of the results when corrected, in those cases where data were obtained and the results replicated. Many studies that have been cited are not relevant to the United States because they reflect wage bargaining approaches and unions have virtually disappeared from the private sector in the United States. Overall, the evidence suggests that the tax is largely borne by capital. Similarly, claims that high U.S. tax rates will create problems for the United States in a global economy suffer from a misrepresentation of the U.S. tax rate compared with other countries and are less important when capital is imperfectly mobile, as it appears to be. Although these new arguments appear to rely on questionable methods, the traditional concerns about the corporate tax appear valid. While an argument may be made that the tax is still needed as a backstop to individual tax collections, it does result in some economic distortions. These economic distortions, however, have declined substantially over time as corporate rates and shares of output have fallen. Moreover, it is difficult to lower the corporate tax without creating a way of sheltering individual income given the low tax rates on dividends and capital gains. A number of revenue-neutral changes are available that could reduce these distortions, allow for a lower corporate statutory tax rate, and lead to a more efficient corporate tax system. These changes include base broadening, reducing the benefits of debt finance through inflation indexing, taxing large pass-through firms as corporations, and reducing the tax at the firm level offset by an increase at the individual level. Nevertheless, the scope for reducing the tax rate in a revenue-neutral way may be limited.
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781978091900
Category : Corporations
Languages : en
Pages : 66
Book Description
Interest in corporate tax reform that lowers the rate and broadens the base has developed in the past several years. Some discussions by economists in opinion pieces have suggested there is an urgent need to lower the corporate tax rate, but not necessarily to broaden the tax base, an approach that presents some difficulties given current budget pressures. Others see the corporate tax as a potential source of revenue. Arguments for lowering the corporate tax rate include the traditional concerns about economic distortions arising from the corporate tax and newer concerns arising from the increasingly global nature of the economy. Some claims have been made that lowering the corporate tax rate would raise revenue because of the behavioral responses, an effect that is linked to an open economy. Although the corporate tax has generally been viewed as contributing to a more progressive tax system because the burden falls on capital income and thus on higher-income individuals, claims have also been made that the burden falls not on owners of capital, but on labor income. The analysis in this report suggests that many of the concerns expressed about the corporate tax are not supported by empirical evidence. Claims that behavioral responses could cause revenues to rise if rates were cut do not hold up on either a theoretical or an empirical basis. Studies that purport to show a revenue-maximizing corporate tax rate of 30% (a rate lower than the current statutory tax rate) contain econometric errors that lead to biased and inconsistent results; when those problems are corrected the results disappear. Cross-country studies to provide direct evidence showing that the burden of the corporate tax actually falls on labor yield unreasonable results and prove to suffer from econometric flaws that also lead to a disappearance of the results when corrected, in those cases where data were obtained and the results replicated. Many studies that have been cited are not relevant to the United States because they reflect wage bargaining approaches and unions have virtually disappeared from the private sector in the United States. Overall, the evidence suggests that the tax is largely borne by capital. Similarly, claims that high U.S. tax rates will create problems for the United States in a global economy suffer from a misrepresentation of the U.S. tax rate compared with other countries and are less important when capital is imperfectly mobile, as it appears to be. Although these new arguments appear to rely on questionable methods, the traditional concerns about the corporate tax appear valid. While an argument may be made that the tax is still needed as a backstop to individual tax collections, it does result in some economic distortions. These economic distortions, however, have declined substantially over time as corporate rates and shares of output have fallen. Moreover, it is difficult to lower the corporate tax without creating a way of sheltering individual income given the low tax rates on dividends and capital gains. A number of revenue-neutral changes are available that could reduce these distortions, allow for a lower corporate statutory tax rate, and lead to a more efficient corporate tax system. These changes include base broadening, reducing the benefits of debt finance through inflation indexing, taxing large pass-through firms as corporations, and reducing the tax at the firm level offset by an increase at the individual level. Nevertheless, the scope for reducing the tax rate in a revenue-neutral way may be limited.