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Income Taxation and Business Incorporation: Evidence From the Early Twentieth Century

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  • Li Liu
Abstract
A differential between the corporate income tax rate and the personal income tax rates applied to non-corporate income can play an important role in a frm’s choice of organizational form. The impact and interdependency of income tax incentives are crucial factors in the design of effcient tax policies. In this paper I exploit the variation in income taxes across U.S. states in the early 20th century to estimate these sensitivities. The potential endogeneity of state taxes is addressed using an instrumental variables approach. The results demonstrate that the relative taxation of corporate to personal income has a signifcant impact on the corporate share of economic activities. On average, a ten percentage point increase in the corporate tax rate is associated with a 0.2 to 0.3 percent decrease in the corporate share of economic activities, while a ten percentage point increase in the personal income tax rates applied to non-corporate income raises the corporate share of economic activities by 0.5 to 0.6 percent.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Liu, 2014. "Income Taxation and Business Incorporation: Evidence From the Early Twentieth Century," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(2), pages 387-418, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:67:y:2014:i:2:p:387-418
    DOI: 10.17310/ntj.2014.2.04
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. On the effects of income tax to the private businesses
      by bearodr in NEP-HIS blog on 2012-11-08 18:23:20

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    Cited by:

    1. Kazuki Onji & John P. Tang, 2015. "A nation without a corporate income tax: Evidence from nineteenth century Japan," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 15-12, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics.
    2. Lejour, Arjan & Massenz, Gabriella, 2020. "Income Shifting and Organizational Form Choice : Evidence from Europe," Other publications TiSEM 3138edef-d645-4113-9981-3, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Bergner, Sören Martin & Bräutigam, Rainer & Evers, Maria Theresia & Spengel, Christoph, 2017. "The use of SME tax incentives in the European Union," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-006, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    4. Waseem, Mazhar, 2018. "Taxes, informality and income shifting: Evidence from a recent Pakistani tax reform," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 41-77.
    5. Onji, Kazuki & Tang, John P., 2017. "Taxes and the Choice of Organizational Form in Late Nineteenth Century Japan," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 77(2), pages 440-472, June.
    6. 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).
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Michael P. Devereux & Li Liu & Simon Loretz, 2014. "The Elasticity of Corporate Taxable Income: New Evidence from UK Tax Records," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(2), pages 19-53, May.
    10. 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.
    11. Michael P. Donohoe & Gary A. McGill & Edmund Outslay, 2014. "Risky Business: The Prosopography of Corporate Tax Planning," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(4), pages 851-874, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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