Identifying Profit-Shifting to Tax Havens using statistics on Country-by-Country Reports

Abstract

Profit-Shifting is an aggressive tax planning activity that erodes public revenues worldwide. Using statistics based on recent Country-by-Country Reports, this article identifies both descriptively and econometrically the existence of such activity by large Spanish multinationals in EU tax havens. Moreover, the paper shows that the application of the minimum Effective Tax Rate of 15% to profits generated in other EU countries by these large multinationals, within the Two-Pillar solution of the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework, could increase Spanish tax revenue by around 2- 17% of annual corporate income tax.