<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In this paper, I present a review of tax accounting research with a specific focus on earnings management in response to changes in the corporate tax rate. While prior surveys of the tax accounting literature have a broad scope and focus primarily on publicly listed firms, I concentrate on studies examining private firms. These firms have stronger incentives to engage in tax-induced earnings management and recent evidence shows that firms in general defer earnings from high to low tax periods around tax reforms. I summarize contemporary studies, questions examined, and learnings. In addition, I discuss practical implications and outline future research possibilities.</abstract>

A review of earnings management in private firms in response to tax rate changes

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Taxes have become an issue of corporate social responsibility (CSR), but the role of taxation is to some extent an ambiguous and controversial issue in the CSR framework. Similarly, another unclear question is what role investors who are committed to sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) see taxes as having on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda. Corporate taxes have an inverse relationship with the return of the investors: taxes paid directly affect what is left on the bottom line, reducing the return of investors. However, investors are now more aware of tax-related risks, which can include different forms of reputation risk. Corporate tax planning may increase the returns, but those increased returns are riskier. This study focuses particularly on the relationship between SRI and taxation. We find that tax matters are considered to be on the ESG agenda, but their role and significance in the ESG analysis is unclear.</abstract>

Responsible Investment: Taxes and Paradoxes

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Tax legislation contains references to taxpayer’s intentions with their transactions. The acquisition or sale of an asset may be treated differently, for example, depending on the purpose of the person holding it. This article contains a discussion of the concept of subjective prerequisites, with particular emphasis on the role they can play in tax law. How the terms <italic>intention</italic> and <italic>purpose</italic> are actually used in the Swedish Income Tax Act (ITA) is also explored.</abstract>

The taxpayer’s intentions: Subjective prerequisites in tax law

Tax Planning in Partner-owned Close Corporations

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">We provide an analysis of the revenue-maximizing top earned income tax rate for a country with one of the highest levels of earnings taxation in the world, Finland, and compare it to the current level of taxation. We account for the effect of income-shifting possibilities in the calculations and find that the current top tax rate on earnings in Finland is likely to be below the revenue-maximizing rate. We provide an explicit account of assumptions behind the Laffer curve calculations and demonstrate that policy conclusions depend critically on non-trivial choices regarding, for example, how the current top tax rate is calculated. The assumptions in the Laffer curve calculations need to be made explicit if the calculations are to provide guidance for policy.</abstract>

Revenue-maximizing top earned income tax rate in the presence of income-shifting

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This paper examines the different elements included in the Swedish partial individual taxation reform in 1971. The purpose is to identify what policy lessons this reform holds for contemporary tax policy in the European Union member states that currently apply joint tax and benefit provisions. Even though contemporary circumstances have changed in relation to the historical context for Swedish reform, the common strand is that the provisions create both inactivity incentives on the labor market and low income traps for secondary earners. We suggest that a shift to individual taxation should be a part of family and social policies that promote gender equality, and that in turn should be consolidated within a sustainable idea about tax fairness.</abstract>

Eliminating the secondary earner bias. Policy lessons from the introduction of partial individual taxation in Sweden in 1971

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Multinational corporations’ tax practices are hotly debated nowadays. Multinationals are accused of not paying their fair share of taxes. Apparently, acting within the limits set by law is not sufficient to qualify as morally responsible behavior anymore.This article offers ethical reflection on the current debate. The general public typically evaluates (aggressive) tax planning in moral terms rather than legal terms. Therefore, multinationals need to reflect on their tax planning strategy next to economic and legal terms also in ethical terms. This article addresses the relationship between society, morality and taxes. The concepts of tax planning, “aggressive tax planning”, “tax evasion” and “tax avoidance” are elaborated on to exemplify the difference between a purely legal and broader approach. In moral terms, aggressive tax planning may imply loss of integrity and trust which may entail certain costs for businesses, such as reputation damage. It will be argued that in order to improve corporate reputation and (moral) leadership, corporate social responsibility (CSR), endorsed by many corporations around the globe, is a helpful tool. Reflection on tax planning in the context of CSR - good tax governance - should foster a moral mind set and enhance accountability and transparency.</abstract>

Professor of Tax Law, Fiscal Institute and the Center for Company Law

Tilburg University; Professor of Tax Law, Leiden University

Good Tax Governance: A Matter of Moral Responsibility and Transparency

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In the earlier related literature, consumption tax rate Laffer curve is found to be strictly increasing (see <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_ntaxj-2017-0004_ref_024_w2aab3b7c29b1b6b1ab2ac24Aa">Trabandt and Uhlig (2011)</xref>). In this paper, a general equilibrium macro model is augmented by introducing a substitute for private consumption in the form of home production. The introduction of home production brings about an additional margin of adjustment – an increase in consumption tax rate not only decreases labor supply and reduces the consumption tax base but also allows a substitution of market goods with home-produced goods. The main objective of this paper is to show that, after the introduction of home production, the consumption tax Laffer curve exhibits an inverse U-shape. Also the income tax Laffer curves are significantly altered. The result shown in this paper casts doubt on some of the earlier results in the literature.</abstract>

Laffer Curves and Home Production

Head of Department of Commercial Law and Accounting, Hanken School of Economics

Reforming capital gains taxation of intercorporate share realizations : a law and economics approach from a Nordic perspective

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> By the late 1960s, real effective taxation of income from individual firm ownership in Sweden approached 100 percent. A series of tax reforms has reversed this situation. This paper (1) elucidates the thinking behind the vision of creating a largely market-based system without wealthy capitalists and how that vision guided tax policy; (2) outlines and evaluates the changes in the tax code since the late 1970s, their empirical and intellectual basis, and their implications for the taxation of individual firm ownership; and (3) compares the size of the largest individual wealth holdings in the mid-1960s to their equivalents in the 2010s and discusses how the general public’s views have changed regarding sizeable income streams and wealth from business activity. Today, the tax code favors already wealthy individuals, while high labor income taxation combined with a high valuation of existing assets renders wealth accumulation difficult for persons with no initial wealth.</abstract>

Taxation of Swedish Firm Owners: The Great Reversal from the 1970s to the 2010s

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Value-added tax (VAT) grouping schemes, whereby several legally independent entities are treated as a single taxable person for VAT purposes, are well known, though their detailed rules differ from country to country. This article deals with specific tax avoidance and fiscal competition aspects of VAT grouping schemes in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The article gives examples of tax abuse and avoidance by using various VAT grouping models, with the main emphasis on the practice in Denmark, which may be indicative of similar problems in other countries. The article shows that there are significant differences in the rationales for national VAT grouping schemes, and these indicate that there are mismatches between the national schemes of the EU Member States and the original intention of the EU scheme. Finally, an examination of the different national rationales shows the necessity of striking a balance between combating tax avoidance and preventing distortion of competition.</abstract>

A comparative analysis of VAT grouping schemes from a Nordic perspective—aspects of tax avoidance and fiscal competition

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 2023 (2023): Issue 1 (December 2023)

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Nordic Tax Journal

Call for Papers: Special Issue and Symposium of the Nordic Tax Journal: Taxing Dividends in the Nordics: Challenges and Opportunities Guest Editors: Jarkko Harju (Tampere University) and Yvette Lind (BI Norwegian Business School)  The winner of the 2023 Nordic Tax Council´s Article Prize can be found here.  Nordic Tax Journal is a peer reviewed, open access journal that publishes original, scholarly works on all aspects of taxation. It aims to promote contemporary research of tax-related issues, from both legal and economic perspectives, and to provide a platform for academics, researchers, practitioners, administrators, judges and policy makers to enhance their understanding and knowledge of taxation in the Nordic region. Although we appreciate a Nordic angle in manuscripts, it is not a requirement.  Nordic Tax Journal is published by the Nordic Tax Research Council, a resource for academics, tax officials, practitioners and policymakers pursuing high quality tax research throughout the Nordic region.  The articles in Nordic Tax Journal are published continuously throughout the year. It is abstracted and indexed in numerous relevant services (listed under the "Abstracting &amp; Indexing" tab), and ranked among the top law/economic journals in the Nordic region. The journal does not have article processing charges (APCs) or article submission charges.  Contributors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts to Nordic Tax Journal through its electronic submission system Editorial Manager.  The Nordic Tax Research Council's ARTICLE PRIZE €3.000The Nordic Tax Research Council's Article Prize is awarded yearly to the author of an article published in Nordic Tax Journal (NTaxJ).As from 2019 a prize of 3.000 EUR is awarded at the Council's annual spring seminar, by the Council Chair and the Editor-in-Chief of Nordic Tax Journal. The assessment criteria for the Article Prize are the same as for publication in Nordic Tax Journal: high quality research on taxation relevant to the Nordic countries. Authors can apply to enter the contest when submitting a manuscript to NTaxJ.  Nordic Tax Journal is ranked on the following Nordic academic lists:   Top rankDanish Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Page 185)   Scientific Level 1Norwegian Social Science Data Services   Level 1Publication Forum Federation of Finnish Learned Societies Visit our FacebookVisit our Twitter  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process.  Target group   academics, researchers, practitioners, administrators, judges and policy makers interested in the taxation systems in the Nordic region 