Intertemporal Income Shifting for Investment Reasons: Evidence from Private Firms
研究了西班牙私营企业在公司税削减时通过跨期收入转移获取额外税收节省的行为，发现面临投资机会和时间压力的企业更可能这样做，且激进转移者在税改后对劳动资本的投资更多且更高效。
ABSTRACT This paper examines the intertemporal income-shifting behavior of private firms, as well as the level and efficiency of aggressive intertemporal income shifters’ investments in the wake of corporate tax cuts. Earlier research has focused mainly on public firms. However, research into private firms is especially relevant since these companies tend to finance future growth through internal financing. Using a sample of 2,650 firm-year observations of private Spanish firms, our results thus show that private companies engaged in intertemporal income shifting to gain additional tax savings in the presence of corporate tax cuts. This was particularly observed in the presence of significant investment opportunities and timing pressures to shift income. Additionally, we provide evidence that aggressive intertemporal income shifters invested more in labor capital after tax reforms than other firms and that such investments were efficient. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: M41; M48; H21; H32.