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Are changes of organizational form costly? Income shifting and business entry responses to taxes

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  • Tazhitdinova, Alisa
Abstract
Drawing on administrative panel data covering the full population of business owners in the UK, I study the effects of differential tax liabilities across organizational forms on business entry and on income shifting. I find that a 10% increase in savings from incorporation leads to a 1.7% increase in the number of new business owners. However, higher entrepreneurial entry is offset by income shifting – increasing the hazard rate of incorporation of the existing self-employed by up to 2.3% for a 10% increase in tax savings. I show that despite large tax savings from incorporation (exceeding 10 pp. in some years), a substantial proportion of business owners fail to incorporate, suggesting that income shifting through incorporation is not the primary avoidance channel for the self-employed.

Suggested Citation

  • Tazhitdinova, Alisa, 2020. "Are changes of organizational form costly? Income shifting and business entry responses to taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:186:y:2020:i:c:s0047272720300517
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104187
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    3. Youssef Benzarti & Jarkko Harju & Tuomas Matikka, 2020. "Does Mandating Social Insurance Affect Entrepreneurial Activity?," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(2), pages 255-268, June.
    4. Massenz, Gabriella, 2023. "On the behavioral effects of tax policy," Other publications TiSEM eb44a9f7-b859-480d-b2e4-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Harald J. Amberger & Saskia Kohlhase, 2023. "International taxation and the organizational form of foreign direct investment," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(8), pages 1529-1561, October.
    6. Harju, Jarkko & Koivisto, Aliisa & Matikka, Tuomas, 2022. "The effects of corporate taxes on small firms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    7. Ege Can, 2022. "Income taxation, entrepreneurship, and incorporation status of self-employment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(5), pages 1260-1293, October.
    8. Wojciech Kopczuk & Eric Zwick, 2020. "Business Incomes at the Top," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(4), pages 27-51, Fall.
    9. Katarzyna Bilicka, 2022. "Why are the Contributions of Multinational Firms to Corporate Tax Revenues Declining?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(2), pages 401-426, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Entrepreneurial entry; Incorporation; Organizational form; Avoidance; Income shifting; Compliance cost;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

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