Home Institution
Rollins College
Publication Date
Fall 12-1-2014
Abstract
In recent years, the number of U.S. companies trying to merge with a foreign company and thereby reincorporate themselves in countries with a lower corporate tax rate – a practice known as corporate inversion – has skyrocketed. The public outcry in 2014 against corporate inversions led the U.S. Treasury to release a series of new anti-inversion regulations, and more policy changes are in the process of being debated. At the same time as this national discussion on the harmful effects corporate inversions have on the U.S. tax base is progressing, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is in the process of working with G-20 countries to develop a Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Action Plan, a plan that aims in part to bring about major international corporate tax reform. In light of these developments, this paper aims to explain the incentives behind corporate inversions and the different policies being discussed on both the national and international level that could discourage this practice. Through the analysis of government reports and interviews with experts, this paper shows that actions on the national level to stop inversions are indeed possible, although the most meaningful actions will probably be carried out by the Administration, not Congress. The OECD effort to create a multilateral tax instrument, however, is much less promising; the governments currently involved have strongly divergent interests when it comes to setting standards for corporate taxation, and developing countries are almost completely left out of the conversation. Based on these conclusions, the paper makes recommendations on measures to curb inversions and advises that the United States not wait for an international solution to its national problem of tax base erosion.
Disciplines
American Politics | Business | Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Economics | Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations | Finance | Finance and Financial Management | Income Distribution | International and Area Studies | International Relations | Other Political Science | Political Economy | Political Science
Recommended Citation
Novak, Scott, "Curbing Corporate Inversions:
A Study of National and International Efforts to Establish Corporate Tax Equity" (2014). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 1986.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/1986
Included in
American Politics Commons, Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, Finance Commons, Finance and Financial Management Commons, Income Distribution Commons, International and Area Studies Commons, International Relations Commons, Other Political Science Commons, Political Economy Commons
Program Name
Switzerland: International Studies and Multilateral Diplomacy