The Effect of Intellectual Property Boxes on Innovative Activity and Tax Avoidance

Date
2017-08-31
Authors
Bornemann, Tobias
Laplante, Stacie
Osswald, Benjamin
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Abstract
Using the unique setting of a large tax rate cut on patent income in Belgium as a quasi-experiment, we examine the effect of intellectual property box regimes (IP boxes) on firms’ patenting activities and effective tax rates. We find that firms, on average, do not significantly increase their patenting activities after the introduction of an IP box regime. However, patent-owning firms experience a 1.6 percentage point lower cash effective tax rate after the introduction of the IP box regime compared to non-patenting firms. This translates into tax revenue reduction of approximately $ 182 million (a 1.5 % reduction in corporate tax revenue) without corresponding increases in firms’ innovative output. Moreover, we find that firms separate into three groups. Subsidiaries of multinational firms without opportunities to shift income out of the country and, to a lesser extent, domestic firms enjoy significant tax savings. In contrast, subsidiaries of multinational firms with opportunities to shift income out of the country do not experience significant reductions in effective tax rates. Overall, we provide initial evidence that IP boxes provide benefits for domestic firms and multinationals without income shifting opportunities.
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Keywords
IP boxes, Tax avoidance, Income shifting
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