For multinational corporations, tax planning has become extremely complex affairs. It has been stated that no multinational corporation possesses the ultimate tax expertise. Therefore，in addition to having their own experts, MNCs rely on heavily on local tax experts and legal counsel.
Taxes have a very important impact on foreign direct investment decisions. Taxes will determine the financial structure of subsidiary，and they will influence pricing decisions. They may also lead to the formation of holding companies. An MNC may decide to establish a branch rather than a subsidiary because of a given tax situation. The absence of a tax treaty between the country of a would-be investor and the nation where a foreign investment is to take place might lead to cancellation of investment plans. An unfavorable depreciation allowance may keep the foreign investor out. This unit will deal with the different tax systems in the world and their impact on an MNC’s global strategy.
Basically, any tax system can be divided into direct and indirect taxes. Corporate and individual income taxes are direct，value-added taxes，sales taxes，and import duties are indirect taxes. Corporate income taxes (taxes levied on earning) vary among the industrialized nations. France, the United States, Holland, Canada, and Germany have rates of around 50 percent; Italy，the United Kingdom and Japan have rates of between 36 and 40 percent.
Less developed countries usually have lower corporate tax rates in order to attract foreign investment. Thus, Brazil has a rate of 30 percent, and Indonesia has a 40 percent tax rate. A corporate tax is levied on taxable earnings. Taxable earnings are more significant than the tax rate itself. They determine what can be deducted before the tax is computed; in other words, these items are tax deductible. Countries differ greatly in determining taxable earnings. Some allow accelerated depreciation, whereby the asset (usually the plant or equipment) is written off at a substantially higher rate during the first years than in the later years. This allows for smaller taxable earnings in the early years. Other countries allow tax-free investment reserves. These are used at a later stage for investment in undeveloped areas of countries or are sent when countries are in a recession.
A recent type of tax that has won recognition in the European Common Market is value-added tax (VAT). This is a national sales tax levied at each stage of production or at the sale of consumer goods. The tax is assessed in proportion to the value added during that stage. Generally, manufacturing goods, such as plant and equipment, have been exempted from this tax. In most cases, food items also have been exempted.
Here is an example of how VAT works. A tree owner who sells part of a tree to a lumber mill for $ 1 must set aside ten cents VAT to pay to the government. The lumber mill processes the tree into building material and sells the wood for $ 3 to a lumber wholesaler. The mill adds $ 2 in value，and thus sets aside 10 percent of the added value, or twenty cents, to pay to the government. And so the VAT continues until the final sale.
The VAT system offers advantages, such as rebates on exports. Profitable and unprofitable firms are taxed alike, as there is no possibility of tax deductions to determine taxable income. A badly run company is, therefore, forced to improve or go out of business. Further, VAT is easy to calculate and collect. But VAT is often accused of having contributed to serious inflation in countries where it was introduced, notably in Western Europe.
1.Tax systems can be divided into________.
2.One arrives at taxable earnings when________.
3.The reason no multinational corporation possesses the ultimate tax expertise is that___________.
4.Which of the following is not an advantage of a VAT system?
5.Why did the less developed countries usually have lower corporate tax rates?
