关于税收优惠政策的外文文献

IntTaxPublicFinance(2010)17:315–336DOI10.1007/s10797-010-9135-yCauses,benefits,andrisksofbusinesstaxincentivesAlexanderKlemmPublishedonline:24April2010©SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC2010AbstractThispaperprovidesanupdatedoverviewoftaxincentivesforbusinessinvestment.Itarguesthattaxcompetitionislikelytobeamajorforcedrivingcoun-tries’taxreforms,anddiscussestaxincentivesasapossibleresponsetothis.Thisiscomplementedbymoredetailedargumentsforandagainsttaxincentives,andbyanillustrativeanalysisofdifferentincentivesusingeffectivetaxrates.Findingsfromtheempiricalliteratureontaxincentivesarealsopresented.Basedontheoverviewoftheoreticalandempiricalfindings,thepaperthensuggestsamatrixofcriteriatodeterminetheusefulnessofdifferenttaxincentivesdependingonacountry’scircum-stances.KeywordsTaxincentives·Taxcompetition·EffectivetaxratesJELClassificationH25·H871IntroductionTaxincentivesarecommonaroundtheworldandareconstantlyevolving.Fewpublicfinancelawsarepassedwithoutreferencetospecialrulesregardingaspecificactivityorcircumstance.Insteadoftryingtoanalyzealloftheirpossiblemanifestations,itisusefultoadoptanarrowerdefinitiontoallowamorethoroughstudy.Forthepurposesofthispaper,taxincentivesaredefinedasallmeasuresthatpro-videexplicitlyforamorefavorabletaxtreatmentofcertainactivitiesorsectorscom-paredtowhatisgrantedtogeneralindustry.Underthisdefinition,ageneralcutinTheviewsexpressedinthispaperaremyownandshouldnotbeattributedtotheIMF.IwishtothankPhilipDaniel,MarioMansour,JohnNorregaard,EmilSunley,StefanVanParys,andtwoanonymousrefereesforhelpfulcomments.A.Klemm()InternationalMonetaryFund,70019thStreetNW,Washington,DC,20431,USAe-mail:[e-mail]usdepreciationschemeapplicabletoallfirmswouldnotbeconsideredtaxincentives.1Incentivesneednotbepartofaspecialcode;theycanbeanintegratedpartofthetaxlaw.Thispaperfocusesonthoseincentiveswhichaimtoencourageeconomicactivity,particularlyinvestment.Underthispremise,grantingataxincentiveimpliesthatthecapitalstock—eitherofsometypeorinaggregate—isconsideredtoolowandthateitherthetaxsystemistheobstacleorotherobstaclesexistthatcanbecompensatedbythetaxsystem.Otherincentivesexist,suchasthosewhicharenotaimedattherealeconomybutatattractingreportedprofitsorthoseaimedatimprovingsocialoutcomes,forexample,byencouragingeducationorsavingforapension.Economistshaveoftenbeenskepticalabouttaxincentivesandinsteadsupportedbroadtaxbasestoenablelowrates.Thispaperattemptstoprovideanexplanationforthecontinuedpopularityofincentivesdespitesuchadvice.Itarguesthat,eventhoughtherationalefortheadviceremainsvalid,therearestrongforcesthatdrivecountriestoadopttaxincentives.Moreover,irrespectiveofwhetheronefindstheargumentsfortaxincentivescompelling,itwouldbeusefultogiveadviceontheproperdesignofincentivestothosecountrieswhicharedeterminedtomaintainthem,astheirrelativecostsandbenefitsdifferenormously.Taxincentivesaregrantedforawidevarietyofreasons,butthispaperarguesthattaxcompetitionisaparticularlyimportantforcebehindmanyofthem.Thispaperbeginswithabriefdescriptionofthecompetitiveforcescountriesarefacingandthepossibleresponsestothem(Sect.2).Itarguesthatasystemwithtaxincentivesisnotobviouslytheworstpossibleresponsetosuchpressures.Otherreasonsforbusinesstaxincentivesincludesocialgoals,suchasencouragementofeconomicactivityinbackwardregions,whichwouldleadtolocalizedincentives.Whilemost,ifnotall,countriesapplytaxincentives,theyareparticularlycom-monindevelopingcountries.2Thisisprobablynotsurprising,giventheirperceptionasadevelopmenttool,andgiventhatdevelopingeconomiesareoftenhamperedbystructuralweaknesses,forwhichtheymaywishtocompensatebyofferingincentives.Someincentives,suchastaxholidays,arealmostexclusivelyadevelopingeconomyphenomenon.Moregenerally,theuseoftaxincentivesasanationaldevelopmentortaxcompetitiontooloccursmostlyindevelopingcountries,andtheanalysisinthispaperisthereforemostlyrelevantforsucheconomies.Advancedeconomiesalsoem-ployincentives,buttheyaremorefocusedonparticularregionsorsectors,ratherthanapplyingbroadly,suchastoallforeigninvestment.Insomeadvancedeconomies,suchasthoseoftheEuropeanUnion,theiruseisrestricted(state-aidrules,codeofconduct).Still,incentivesappliedattheregionalorlocallevelofadvancedcountriescanmirrorthoseindevelopingonesinintentandeffect.Andevensomenational1Otherdefinitionshavebeensuggested,e.g.,labelinganyprovisionthatlowerstheafter-taxcostofcapitalbelowthepretaxcostanincentive.Thishasanumberofconceptualandpracticalproblems,though.Itwouldmeanthatmostcountries’corporatetaxsystemswouldbeconsideredataxincentive,becausethecombinationofinterestdeductibilityanddepreciationallowancesoftenyieldsnegativetaxratesatthemargin.Moreover,anymeasurethatreducedthetaxburdenofanactivitywouldnotberecognizedasanincentiveaslongassometaxisleviedatthemargin,irrespectiveofhowotheractivitiesaretaxed.2ForadescriptionoftypicalincentivesinAfricancountries,seeKeenandMansour(2009).Causes,benefits,andrisksofbusinesstaxincentives317Box1:TypicalTaxIncentivesTaxholidays:Temporaryexemptionofanewfirmorinvestmentfromcertainspec-ified