Abstract
An analysis of Canadiancorporate income tax revenues during the 1984–94 periodshows a relative shifting of tax revenue shares between Canadianand foreign-controlled corporations, and a substantial changein the debt levels of foreign-controlled corporations, as wellas Canadian-based multinationals. We claim that these changesmay have been associated with the tax reforms undertaken by theUnited States and Canada in the mid-1980s resulting in the relativechange in the tax rates between the two countries. We also hypothesizethat if this difference persists and in Canadian-controlled corporationscontinue to aggressively expand abroad, the Canadian corporatetax base could experience further pressure.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Altshuler, Rosanne, and Jack M. Mintz. (1995). “United States Interest-allocation Rules: Effects and Policy.” International Tax and Public Finance 2, 7–35.
Alsworth, Julian S. (1988). The Finance, Investment and Taxation Decisions of Multinationals. New York: Basil Blackwell Inc.
Arnold, Brian J., Jinyan Li, and Daniel Sandler. (1996). “A Comparison and Assessment of the Tax Treatment of Foreign-source Income in Canada, Australia, France, Germany and the United States.” Working paper 96–1, Technical Committee on Business Taxation, Ottawa.
Ault, H. J., and D. F. Bradford. (1990). “Taxing International Income: An Analysis of the U.S. System and its Economic Premises.” In Taxation in Global Economy, A. Razin and J. Slemrod (eds.). University of Chicago Press.
Bartholdy, Jan, Gordon Fisher, and Jack Mintz. (1987). “An Empirical Study of the Impact of Corporate Taxation on the Debt Policy of Canadian Firms.” Discussion paper # 742, Institute for Economic Research, Queen's University.
Bernard, Jean-Thomas, and Robert J. Weiner. (1990). “Multinational Corporations, Transfer Prices and Taxes: Evidence from the U.S. Petroleum Industry.” In Taxation in the Global Economy, Assaf Razin and Joel Slemrod (eds.). The University of Chicago Press.
Bradley, Michael, Gregg A. Jarrell, and E. Han Kim. (1984). “On the Existence of an Optimal Capital Structure: Theory and Evidence.” Journal of Finance 39, 857–880.
Bruce, N. (1989). “The Impact of Tax Reform on International Capital Flows and Investment.” In Economic Impacts of Tax Reform, J. M. Mintz and J. Whalley (eds.), Canadian Tax Foundation, Toronto.
Cummins, Jason G., and R. Glenn Hubbard. (1995). “The Tax Sensitivity of Foreign Direct Investment.” In The Effects of Taxation on Multinational Corporations, Martin Feldstein, James R. Hines, Jr., and R. Glenn Hubbard (eds.).
DeAngelo, Harry, and Ronald W. Masulis. (1980). “Optimal Capital Structure under Corporate and Personal Taxation.” Journal of Financial Economics 8, 3–29.
Devereux, Michael P., and Harold Freeman. (1995). “The Impact of Tax on Foreign Direct Investment: Empirical Evidence and the Implications for Tax-integration Schemes.” International Tax and Public Finance 2, 85–106.
Edgar, Tim. (1987). “The Corporate Interest Deduction and the Financing of Foreign Subsidiaries.” Australian Tax Forum 4, 491–528.
Elitzur, Ramy, and Jack Mintz. (1996). “Transfer Pricing Rules and Corporate Tax Competition.” Journal of Public Economics 60, 401–422.
Grubert, Harry. (1997). “Another Look at the LowTaxable Income of Foreign-controlled Companies in the United States.” Draft, 2/5/97, U.S. Treasury Department.
Grubert, Harry, William C. Randolph, and Donald J. Rousslang. (1996). “Country and Multinational Company Responses to the Tax Reform Act of 1986.” U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Tax Analysis, May 11.
Hartman, David G. (1985). “Tax Policy and Foreign Direct Investment.” Journal of Public Economics 26, 107–121.
Hines, James R. (1994). “Credit Deferrals as International Investment Incentives.” Journal of Public Economics 55, 323–347.
Hines, James R., and R. Glenn Hubbard. (1990). “Coming Home to America: Dividend Repatriations by U.S. Multinationals.” In Taxation in the Global Economy, Assaf Razin and Joel Slemrod (eds.). The University of Chicago Press.
Hogg, Roy D., and Jack M. Mintz. (1991). “Canadian and U.S. Tax Reform Impacts on the Financing of Canadian Subsidiaries of U.S. Parents.” Prepared for the Conference on International Aspects of Taxation, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc., New York, September 26–28.
Horst, Thomas. (1977). “American Taxation of Multinational Firms.” American Economic Review 67, 376–389.
Horst, Thomas. (1993). “The Comparable Profits Method.” Tax Notes International, June 14.
Janeba, Eckhard. (1995). “Corporate Income Tax, Double Taxation Treaties, and Foreign Direct Investment.” Journal of Public Economics 56, 311–325.
Jog, V. M., and J. M. Mintz. (1989). “Corporate Tax Reform and Its Economic Impact: An Evaluation of the June 18, 1987 Proposals.” In The Economic Impact of Tax Reform, Jack Mintz and John Whalley (eds.). Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation, pp. 83–124.
Kale, Jayant R., Thomas H. Noe, and Gabriel G. Ramirez. (1991). “The Effect of Business Risk on Corporate Capital Structure.” Journal of Finance 46, 1693–1715.
Kanbur, Ravi, and Michael Keen. (1993). “Jeux Sans Frontieres: Tax Competition and Tax Co-ordination When Countries Differ in Size.” American Economic Review 83, 877–892.
Keen, Michael. (1991). “Corporation Tax, Foreign Direct Investment and the Single Market.” In European Integration: Trade and Industry, L. Alan Winters and Anthony J. Venables. Cambridge University Press.
Leechor, Chad, and Jack Mintz. (1993). “On the Taxation of Multinational Investment When the Deferral Method is Used by the Capital Exporting Country.” Journal of Public Economics 51, 75–96.
MacKie-Mason, Jeffrey K. (1990). “Do Taxes Affect Corporate Financing Decisions?” Journal of Finance 45, 1471–1493.
OECD. (1990). “Taxation and International Capital Flows.” A Symposium of OECD and non-OECD countries, June 1990.
OECD. (1991). “Taxing Profits in a Global Economy: Domestic and International Issues.” Razin, Assaf, and Efraim Sadka. (1991). “International Tax Competition and Gains from Tax Harmonization.” Economics Letters 37, 69–76.
Rugman, Alan M., and Lorraine Eden. (1985). Multinationals and Transfer Pricing. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Schjelderup, Guttorm, and Alfons J. Weichenrieder. (1999). “Trade, Multinationals, and Transfer Pricing Regulations.” Forthcoming in Canadian Journal of Economics.
Sinn, Hans-Werner. (1984). “Die Bedeutung des Accelerated Cost Recovery System fur den internatioanalen Kapitalverkehr.” Kyklos 37, 542–576.
Sinn, Hans-Werner. (1993). “Taxation and the Birth of Foreign Subsidiaries.” In Trade, Welfare and Economic Policies: Essays in Honor of Murray C. Kemp, Horst Herberg and Ngo Van Long (eds.), The University of Michigan Press.
Slemrod, Joel B. (1995). “Tax Policy toward Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries in Light of Recent International Tax Changes.” In Fiscal Incentives for Investment and Innovation, Anwar Shaw (ed.), Oxford University Press, pp. 289–307.
Weichenrieder, Alfons J. (1996a). “Anti-Tax-Avoidance Provisions and the Size of Foreign Direct Investment.” International Tax and Public Finance 3, 67–81.
Weichenrieder, Alfons J. (1996b). “Fighting International Tax Avoidance: The Case of Germany.” Fiscal Studies 17, 37–58.
Weichenrieder, Alfons J. (1996c). “Transfer Pricing, Double Taxation, and the Cost of Capital.” Scandinavian Journal of Economics 98, 445–452.
Weichenrieder, Alfons J. (1998). “Foreign Profits and Domestic Investment.” Journal of Public Economics 69, 451–463.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Jog, V., Tang, J. Tax Reforms, Debt Shifting and Tax Revenues: Multinational Corporations in Canada. International Tax and Public Finance 8, 5–25 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008749415492
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008749415492