中文摘要
税法复杂性会改变企业行为吗?我们通过研究就税收亏损申请退税的决策来考察这一问题。在企业纳税申报表总体的120万个观测值构成的样本中,仅有37%的符合条件企业申请了退税。对税收亏损选择的简单成本收益分析无法解释如此低的申领率,这促使我们探讨复杂性如何改变这一计算。利用报税人员更换、去世与搬迁的研究设计表明,业务娴熟的报税人员会提高小企业的申领率。申领不完全对边际税率的度量以及财政政策的设计具有启示意义。
Abstract
Does tax code complexity alter corporate behavior? We investigate this question by studying the decision to claim refunds for tax losses. In a sample of 1.2 million observations from the population of corporate tax returns, only 37 percent of eligible firms claim their refund. A simple cost-benefit analysis of the tax loss choice cannot explain low take-up, motivating an exploration of how complexity alters this calculation. Research designs exploiting tax preparer switches, deaths, and relocations show that sophisticated preparers increase claim rates for small firms. Imperfect take-up has implications for measuring marginal tax rates and for the design of fiscal policy.