Top tax researchers gathered by NoCeT
When the 4th Norwegian Symposium on Tax Accounting gathered in Bergen recently, hosted by NoCeT and NHH, professor and organizer Maximillian Todtenhaupt said the event have fulfilled its purpose of bringing together some of the best researchers globally on tax accounting.
He says that the aim for the symposium is to set the agenda so that scholars can share their insights and update peers, practitioners and policy makers on their recent and ongoing work.
Payout or profit tax on corporations?
Ongoing work and research into changes in the corporation tax system, headed by Harald Amberger from Vienna University of Economics and Business, was one of the most discussed items on the agenda at the symposium. The Baltic country opted in 2018 for a corporation tax system where only payouts of dividends are taxed at the time they are paid, rather than a tax on profits at the time they occur.
Expected and observed consequences for investments, withholding of profits, level of debts in the corporation, payment of dividends as well as total tax revenue where all matters that was discussed in depth after Amberger’s presentation. The discussion at the symposium made clear several aspects that should be included in the ongoing research, such as looking more closely at tax systems before and what effects are due to the changes from one system to another rather than the new system itself.
Does politics matter?
Amongst other issues discussed was the impact of politics and political persuasion of various governing coalitions in democratic countries. What are the implications of having a “blue” or a “red” government? This research was presented by Saskia Kohlhase from the Rotterdam School of Management.
Anh Persson of the University of Illinois presented her findings on what the introduction of Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR) would have on pricing in mergers and acquisitions in the private sector.
The symposium addressed several other presentations by Ryan Wilson, Sonja Rego, Preetika Joshi, Marcel Olbert, and Anthony Welsch relevant to tax accounting over the two-day symposium.