Publications

October 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Deferred Taxes at Obadiah Vineyard

Obadiah Vineyard's owners create financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to help them obtain funding to plant more acreage. The owners grapple with deferred taxes and the differences between tax and financial reporting... View Details

Keywords: Plant-Based Agribusiness; Taxation; Financial Statements; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry

2008
Working Paper

Investable Tax Credits: The Case of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit

By: Mihir A. Desai, Dhammika Dharmapala and Monica Singhal

The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) represents a novel tax expenditure program that employs "investable" tax credits to spur production of low-income rental housing. While it has grown into the largest source of new affordable housing in the U.S. and its... View Details

Keywords: Investment; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Taxation; Housing; Renting or Rental; United States

April 2010 (Revised January 2013)
Case

California's Budget Crises, Tax Reform, and Domestic and International Tax Competition

By: Matthew C. Weinzierl and Jacob Kuipers

How do (and how should) governments design fiscal policies to compete in a globalized economy while meeting internal policy priorities including redistribution? In 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger repeatedly declared fiscal emergencies as California's state budget... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Economy; Globalization; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Taxation; Competition; California

2018
Working Paper

Corporate Tax Cuts Increase Income Inequality

By: Suresh Nallareddy, Ethan Rouen and Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato

This paper studies the effects of corporate tax changes on income inequality. Using state corporate tax rate changes as a setting, we show that cutting state corporate tax rates leads to increases in income inequality. This result is robust to using regression and... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Taxation; Income; Equality and Inequality; United States

SSRN

30 Apr 2007
Research & Ideas

All Eyes on Slovakia’s Flat Tax

As interest in the flat tax grows, the world seems transfixed on an unlikely country, Slovakia, whose 3-year-old tax reform program is paying early dividends. Essentially applying a uniform View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

07 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

The Debate over Taxing Foreign Profits

Congress and the next president of the United States will be under pressure to make major changes to U.S. corporate tax policy, the consequences of which could have significant impact on profit and competitiveness of American companies on... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

03 Jun 2014
Working Paper Summaries

Eliciting Taxpayer Preferences Increases Tax Compliance

Keywords: by Cait Lamberton, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Michael I. Norton

22 Jun 2011
Working Paper Summaries

The Surprising Power of Age-Dependent Taxes

Keywords: by Matthew Weinzierl

January 1982 (Revised February 1984)
Case

Tax Cut of 1964, The

Examines the intellectual, political and economic underpinnings of the landmark tax legislation begun by John F. Kennedy and carried through Congress by his successor Lyndon B. Johnson. View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Taxation; Public Administration Industry; United States

20 Dec 2006
Op-Ed

Investors Hurt by Dual-Track Tax Reporting

decipher from public filings. Their proposal, which will likely meet fierce opposition from accountants, lawyers, and managers, is a laudable first step in restoring sanity to U.S. corporate profit reporting. When the corporate tax was... View Details

Keywords: by Mihir Desai

August 1988 (Revised September 1991)
Case

Tax Related Crimes

By: Henry B. Reiling

Keywords: Taxation; Crime and Corruption

January 11, 2003
Article

Remote Control Tax

By: Mihir A. Desai

Keywords: Taxation

June 2007
Article

Theft and Taxes

By: Mihir A. Desai, I.J. Alexander Dyck and Luigi Zingales

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Taxation

SSRN

February 13, 2023
Editorial

The Secret Tax on Women’s Time

By: Lauren C. Howe, Lindsay B. Howe and Ashley V. Whillans

When studies revealed the so-called pink tax, showing in 2015 that personal hygiene products “for her” cost 13% more than similar products for men, it caused outrage and action. The irony that women, despite generally having fewer financial resources than men, are... View Details

Keywords: Gender; Equality and Inequality; Work-Life Balance

April 2011
Article

Institutional Tax Clienteles and Payout Policy

By: Mihir Desai and Li Jin

This paper employs heterogeneity in institutional shareholder tax characteristics to identify the relation between firm payout policy and tax incentives. Analysis of a panel of firms matched with the tax characteristics of the clients of their institutional... View Details

Keywords: Institutional Investors; Clienteles; Payout Policy; Private Equity; Investment; Taxation; Ownership Stake; Business and Shareholder Relations

2006
Working Paper

Theft and Taxes

By: Mihir A. Desai, I.J. Alexander Dyck and Luigi Zingales