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Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 105 No. 1 1990

The Significance of Tax Law Asymmetries: An Empirical Investigation

Rosanne Altshuler1; Alan J. Auerbach2

1 Columbia University · 2 National Bureau of Economic Research

Abstract

This study uses tax return data for U. S. nonfinancial corporations for the period 1971–1982 to estimate the importance of restrictions on the ability of firms to use tax credits and to obtain refunds for tax losses. Our results suggest that the incidence of such unused tax benefits increased substantially during the early 1980s, though we do not find these increases attributable to increased investment incentives during that period. We present estimates of the marginal tax rate on interest payments which take into account unused tax benefits and emphasize the importance of distinguishing current tax payments from marginal tax rates in estimating the incentive to invest.

DOI
10.2307/2937819
Volume
105
Issue
1
Pages
61
Sources
openalex crossref

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