Skip to main content

Taxation of Corporate Profits

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
  • 33 Accesses

Abstract

Corporate profits taxes account for a relatively small share of revenues in leading industrial countries but represent a potentially important source of economic distortion. The incidence of corporate taxes has traditionally been assigned to owners of capital, but more recent theories have suggested that many other groups, from shareholders to owners of other domestic factors of production, may share the burden, and that the burden itself may be overstated. Although commonly described as taxes on income, corporate profits taxes may have quite different bases, making the economic effects potentially quite different from those of a tax on corporate source income.

This is a revised version of the article by Peter Mieszkowski in the first edition of the dictionary.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   6,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   8,499.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Bibliography

  • Auerbach, A.J. 1979. Share valuation and corporate equity policy. Journal of Public Economics 11: 291–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auerbach, A.J. 1983. Corporate taxation in the United States. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1983(2): 451–505.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auerbach, A.J. 1984. Taxes, firm financial policy and the cost of capital: An empirical analysis. Journal of Public Economics 23: 27–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auerbach, A.J. 1996. Capital allocation, efficiency and growth. In Economic effects of fundamental tax reform, ed. H. Aaron and W. Gale. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Auerbach, A.J., and K.A. Hassett. 2003. On the marginal source of investment funds. Journal of Public Economics 87: 205–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auerbach, A.J., and M.A. King. 1983. Taxation, portfolio choice and debt–equity ratios: A general equilibrium model. Quarterly Journal of Economics 98: 588–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bank, S.A. 2006. A capital lock-in theory of the corporate income tax. Georgetown Law Journal 94: 889–947.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradford, D.F. 1981. The incidence and allocation effects of a tax on corporate distributions. Journal of Public Economics 15: 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bulow, J.I., and L.H. Summers. 1984. The taxation of risky assets. Journal of Political Economy 92: 20–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Desai, M.A., and A.D. Goolsbee. 2004. Investment, overhang, and tax policy. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 2004(2): 285–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devereux, M.P., R. Griffith, and A. Klemm. 2002. Corporate income tax reforms and international tax competition. Economic Policy 17: 450–495.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domar, E.D., and R.A. Musgrave. 1944. Proportional income taxation and risk-taking. Quarterly Journal of Economics 58: 388–422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R.H. 1985. Taxation of corporate capital income: Tax revenues versus tax distortions. Quarterly Journal of Economics 100: 1–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, R.H. 1986. Taxation of investment and savings in a world economy. American Economic Review 76: 1086–1102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harberger, A.C. 1962. The incidence of the corporation income tax. Journal of Political Economy 70: 215–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harberger, A.C. 1966. Efficiency effects of taxes on income from capital. In Effects of corporation income tax, ed. M. Krzyzaniak. Detroit: Wayne State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayashi, F. 1982. Tobin’s marginal and average q: A neoclassical interpretation. Econometrica 50: 213–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, M.A. 1977. Public policy and the corporation. London: Chapman & Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kotlikoff, L.J., and L.H. Summers. 1987. Tax incidence. In Handbook of public economics, vol. 2, ed. A. Auerbach and M. Feldstein. Amsterdam: North–Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krzyzaniak, M., and R.A. Musgrave. 1963. The shifting of the corporation tax. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, M. 1977. Debt and taxes. Journal of Finance 32: 261–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). 2002. Revenue statistics of OECD member countries 1965–2001. Paris: OECD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poterba, J.M., and L.H. Summers. 1985. The economic effects of dividend taxation. In Recent advances in corporate finance, ed. E.I. Altman and M.G. Subrahmanyan. Homewood: Richard D. Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shoven, J.B. 1976. The incidence and efficiency effects of taxes on income from capital. Journal of Political Economy 84: 1261–1283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J.E. 1973. Taxation, corporate financial policy and the cost of capital. Journal of Public Economics 2: 1–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summers, L.H. 1981. Taxation and investment: A q theory approach. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity 1981(1): 67–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tobin, J. 1969. A general equilibrium approach to monetary theory. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 1: 15–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Copyright information

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Auerbach, A.J. (2018). Taxation of Corporate Profits. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_1876

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics