Using matched affiliate-parent data, we investigate whether Japan's move from the worldwide tax system to the territorial tax system in 2009 affects cash holdings of Japanese overseas affiliates. We find that Japanese overseas affiliates facing high tax costs of repatriation under the worldwide tax system reduce cash holdings after the reform. Affiliates also deplete cash holdings after the reform if their parent companies rely on costly external financing or face strong domestic sales growth. The reform does not have a greater impact on affiliates with more pre-reform cash reserves. Our study provides new evidence for the impact of taxation on multinational companies' foreign cash holdings.

What do small firms do when given a semi-permanent corporate income tax cut? We examine firm responses to a substantial reduction in the tax rate for small- and micro-profit enterprises (SMPE) in China, using gradual increases in the qualifying threshold during 2010–2016 for identification. Based on confidential tax returns, we find that newly qualified SMPEs with immediate tax savings increased investment and productivity, while there was no change in wages or payout to shareholders. There is some weak evidence the tax cut induced entry of micro-sized firms in financially constrained sectors. Yet its size-based design led to bunching and incentivized firms to slow down growth when they approached the size threshold.