Wednesday, May 2, 2018

A one pct point reduction in tax rates increases investment by 4.7 pct of installed capital, increases payouts by 0.3 pct of sales, & decreases debt by 5.3 pct of total assets

Ohrn, Eric. 2018. "The Effect of Corporate Taxation on Investment and Financial Policy: Evidence from the DPAD." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 10(2):272-301, doi 10.1257/pol.20150378

Abstract: This study estimates the investment, financing, and payout responses to variation in a firm's effective corporate income tax rate in the United States. I exploit quasi-experimental variation created by the Domestic Production Activities Deduction, a corporate tax expenditure created in 2005. A 1 percentage point reduction in tax rates increases investment by 4.7 percent of installed capital, increases payouts by 0.3 percent of sales, and decreases debt by 5.3 percent of total assets. These estimates suggest that lower corporate tax rates and faster accelerated depreciation each stimulate a similar increase in investment, per dollar in lost revenue.

Check also Trump Tax Windfall Going to Capex Way Faster Than Stock Buybacks
By Lu Wang. Bloomberg, April 26 2018,
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-26/trump-tax-windfall-going-to-capex-way-faster-than-stock-buybacks
After months of heated debate over whether companies would hand the biggest tax break in three decades back to shareholders or reinvest it in their businesses, there’s finally some hard data.

Among the 130 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results in this earnings season, capital spending increased by 39 percent, the fastest rate in seven years, data compiled by UBS AG show. Meanwhile, returns to shareholders are growing at a much slower pace, with net buybacks rising 16 percent. Dividends saw an 11 percent boost.

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