(w/ D. Dharmapala) in National Tax Journal
This paper proposes and evaluates alternative methods for addressing the tax treatment of interest expenses in a multijurisdictional setting.
Read MoreDo Strong Fences Make Strong Neighbors?
/(w/ D. Dharmapala) National Tax Journal, 63 (December 2010), 723-740.
This paper examines the interaction of a strong fences policy with the increasingly important global markets for corporate residence, corporate control and corporate equities.
Read MoreInvestable Tax Credits: The Case of the Low Income Housing Tax Credit→
/(w/ D. Dharmapala and M. Singhal) in National Tax Journal
The Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) represents a novel tax expenditure program that employs "investable" tax credits to spur production of low-income rental housing.
Read MoreReply to Grubert
/(w/ J. R. Hines Jr.) National Tax Journal 58, no. 2 (June 2005), 275-278.
Read MoreOld Rules and New Realities: Corporate Tax Policy in a Global Setting
/(w/ J.R. Hines Jr.) National Tax Journal 57, no. 4 (December 2004), 937-960.
This paper reassesses the burden of the current U.S. international tax regime and reconsiders well–known welfare benchmarks used to guide international tax reform.
Read MoreEvaluating International Tax Reform
/(w/ J. R. Hines Jr.) National Tax Journal 56, no. 3 (September 2003), 487-502.
This paper introduces “capital ownership neutrality” (CON) and “national ownership neutrality” (NON) as benchmarks for evaluating the desirability of international tax reforms, and applies them to analyze recent U.S. tax reform proposals.
Read MoreReview of J. R. Hines, Jr. (ed.), International Taxation and Multinational Activity, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001)
/National Tax Journal 55, no. 4 (December 2002), 845-848.
Within the last three decades, federal and subnational governments around the world have become increasingly appreciative of the benefits of foreign direct investment and increasingly aggressive in their efforts to attract multinational firms.
Read MoreExpectations and Expatriations: Tracing the Causes and Consequences of Corporate Inversions
/(w/ J. R. Hines Jr.) National Tax Journal 55, no. 3 (September 2002), 409-441. Excerpted in M. J. Graetz (ed.), Foundations of International Income Taxation (Westbury, NY: Foundation Press, 2004).
This paper investigates the determinants of corporate expatriations.
Read MoreRepatriation Taxes and Dividend Distortions
/(w/ C. F. Foley and J. R. Hines Jr.) National Tax Journal 54, no. 4 (December 2001), 829-851.
This paper analyzes the effect of repatriation taxes on dividend payments by the foreign affiliates of American multinational firms. The United States taxes the foreign incomes of American companies, grants credits for any foreign income taxes paid, and defers any taxes due on the unrepatriated earnings for those affiliates that are separately incorporated abroad. This system thereby imposes repatriation taxes that vary inversely with foreign tax rates and that differ across organizational forms. As a consequence, it is possible to measure the effect of repatriation taxes by comparing the behavior of foreign subsidiaries that are subject to different tax rates and by comparing the behavior of foreign incorporated and unincorporated affiliates. Evidence from a large panel of foreign affiliates of U.S. firms from 1982 to 1997 indicates that 1 percent lower repatriation tax rates are associated with 1 percent higher dividends. This implies that repatriation taxes reduce aggregate dividend payouts by 12.8 percent, and, in the process, generate annual efficiency losses equal to 2.5 percent of dividends. These effects would disappear if the United States were to exempt foreign income from taxation.
Mihir Desai's academic publications have appeared in leading economics, finance, and law journals. His work has emphasized the appropriate design of tax policy in a globalized setting, the links between corporate governance and taxation, and the internal capital markets of multinational firms. His research has been cited in The Economist, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, and several other publications.