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Introducing an IP Licence Box in Switzerland: Quantifying the Effects

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  • Florian Chatagny
  • Marko Köthenbürger
  • Michael Stimmelmayr

Abstract

In response to the increasing international pressure on Switzerland to reform the ring-fenced elements in its tax system, the Swiss Government has put forward a comprehensive tax reform package. The proposal comprises, among other things, the introduction of a licence box, a substantial reduction in the cantonal profit tax rates and an allowance for excess corporate equity. We apply a computable general equilibrium model to quantify the economic effects of this reform. Our results reveal that the licence box, combined with the reduction in the cantonal profit tax, limits the outflow of the tax base of those companies that benefit from the current preferential tax treatment. The reduction in the cantonal profit tax and the fact that regularly taxed companies also benefit from the licence box render the reform package costly, such that the tax revenues will decline after the reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Florian Chatagny & Marko Köthenbürger & Michael Stimmelmayr, 2015. "Introducing an IP Licence Box in Switzerland: Quantifying the Effects," CESifo Working Paper Series 5450, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5450
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    Cited by:

    1. Florian Chatagny & Marko Koethenbuerger & Michael Stimmelmayr, 2017. "Introducing an IP license box in Switzerland: quantifying the effects," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(6), pages 927-961, December.
    2. Marius Brülhart & Marko Koethenbuerger & Matthias Krapf & Raphaël Parchet & Kurt Schmidheiny & David Staubli, 2024. "Competition, Harmonization and Redistribution: Corporate Taxes in Switzerland," NBER Chapters, in: Policy Responses to Tax Competition, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Peter Egger & Marko Koethenbuerger, 2016. "Hosting multinationals: Economic and fiscal implications," Aussenwirtschaft, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science, Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economics Research, vol. 67(01), pages 45-69, February.
    4. Florian Chatagny & Marko Köthenbürger & Michael Stimmelmayr, 2014. "Troisième réforme de l’imposition des entreprises: les effets économiques de l’introduction d’une licence box," KOF Analysen, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, vol. 8(3), pages 117-125, October.
    5. Bodo Knoll & Nadine Riedel, 2020. "Patent Shifing and Anti-Tax Avoidance Legislation," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 17(04), pages 25-29, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    tax competition; licence box; corporate tax reform; general equilibrium model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models

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