Events
The central aim of ETPF research is to increase the availability of economic research on issues which are of great importance not just for multinational companies, but also for tax policy-makers.
Working with renowned professors and other academic researchers in the tax policy area, we regularly commission Policy Papers and Articles on different aspects of international taxation and its impact on various stakeholders. We also produce a regular survey on tax uncertainty across countries.
2012 
2013 
2014 
2015 
2016 
2017 
2019 
2020 2012
Summary
With steps towards an ever-closer union and emerging proposals to address budgetary concerns, tax policy is perhaps more than ever at the forefront of policy debate in the EU. The impact of fiscal policies on economic growth and stability, proposed reforms for improving the design of taxation and the cross-border implications of domestic tax systems are among the many questions that receive increased attention. At the same time, making informed policy decisions has become increasingly difficult for a number of reasons, not least the limited availability of reliable information and political pressures.
For over six years, the European Tax Policy Forum (ETPF) has commissioned independent academic research to inform the public and provide policy-makers with independent research on the effects of tax policy on businesses. The results of the research have been presented at annual conferences, attracting the participation of industry experts, officials, and academics with an interest in EU tax policy.
Speakers
Emrah Arbak, Researcher, CEPS
John Vella, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford University
Steve Bond, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford University
Jing Xing, Research Fellow, Oxford University
Alfons Weichenrieder, Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt
Shafik Hebous, Chair of Public Finance, Goethe University Frankfurt
Giorgia Maffini, Research Fellow, Oxford University
Simon Loretz, Professor, Oxford University
Katarzyna Bilicka, Research Fellow, Oxford University
Presentations
Corporate Taxation and Capital Accumulation
Intro: Stephen Bond & Jing Xing
Personal taxes, labour regulation, and the location decisions of multinationals
Intro: Shafik Hebous & Alfons Weichenrieder
Taxes and the co-location of intangibles and tangibles
Territoriality, worldwide principle and competitiveness of multinationals: A Firm-level Analysis of Tax Burdens
The EU Commission’s proposal for a Financial Transaction Tax
Issues in the design of taxes on corporate profit
Future of taxation in EU: Opportunities for change
2013
ETPF Public Conference 2013, Brussels
in partnership with the Centre for European Policy Studies
Summary
The financial and economic crises have brought taxation to the forefront of the policy debate in the EU. Levying a targeted tax on the financial sector is one of the most frequently discussed measures to reduce governments’ budgetary pressures. Among policy- makers in the EU, there is a broad consensus that financial institutions should contribute to the cost of fixing the crisis, but member states have not managed to reach a common agreement. In anticipation, some EU member states have already introduced a domestic financial sector tax. Now a smaller group of countries is also moving forward under the enhanced cooperation procedure.
Speakers & Discussants
Onno Ruding, CEPS Chairman
Will Morris, GE / Chair ETPF
Heinz Zourek, European Commission
Dorothea Schäfer, DIW Research
Geoff Pennells, Citi / ETPF Trustee
Niels Johannesen, University of Copenhagen
Alexander Klemm, European Central Bank
Johannes Voget, University of Mannheim
Peter Egger, ETH Zürich
Giorgia Maffini, University of Oxford
Rita de la Feria, Durham University
Oliver Denk, OECD
Salvador Barrios, European Commission
Nadja Dwenger, Max Planck Institute Munich
Jost H. Heckmeyer, University of Mannheim
Gaëtan Nicodème, European Commission
Presentations
Financial Transaction Taxation in the EU
Pros and cons of FTT
The EU single market and taxation
Impact of bank levies on the leverage and risk of banks
Taxation in a globalizing world
Tax and investment in developing and emerging economies
Effects of territorial and worldwide corporation tax systems on outbound M&As
Data for research in European business taxation
Implementing a destination-based corporation tax
Effects of personal income taxes on location of headquarters
2014
ETPF Public Conference 2014, London
in partnership with the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Summary
International Taxation: Base Erosion, Profit Shifting and Distortions to Real Activity
After three successful conferences in Brussels, the 9th annual conference of the European Tax Policy Forum (ETPF), returned to London and was co-hosted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
This conference presented the initial results of four research projects commissioned by ETPF. They include two analyses of how taxes affect business behaviour: the impact of the UK switch to the territorial system in 2009 on domestic and outbound investment, and the impact of thin cap and transfer pricing rules on investment. A third paper investigates the revenue cost of profit shifting by multinational companies, and the final paper examines the broader economic benefits of attracting inward investment by multinational companies.
Participants included:
Michael Devereux, Centre for Business Taxation, University of Oxford and ETPF
Katharina Finke, ZEW, Mannheim
David Gauke MP, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
Fergus Harradence, HM Treasury
Paul Johnson, IFS
Beata Javorcik, University of Oxford, Department of Economics
Li Liu, Centre for Business Taxation, University of Oxford
Helen Miller, IFS
Will Morris, ETPF and GE
Paul Morton, Reed Elsevier
Nadine Riedel, University of Hohenheim
Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the Center for Tax Policy and Administration, OECD
Peter Steeds, HMRC
Mike Williams, HM Treasury
Presentations
The effects of the UK switch to territoriality on domestic and outbound investment
The impact of anti-avoidance legislation on multinational firms’ location choices
The impact of profit shifting on taxes paid by German multinationals
Former foreign affiliates: cast out and outperformed?
Country by country reporting
Methodology and data collection
2015
ETPF Public Conference 2015, London
in partnership with the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Summary
Britain, Europe and Tax Competition.
As the G20-BEPS project draws to its conclusion after a two year study, the EU is planning to play a more central role in European business tax policy. There has been action on the automatic exchange of information, changes to the Parent-Subsidiary Directive, new anti-abuse provisions and state aid investigations into tax rulings. The Commissioner in charge of tax, Pierre Moscovici, has recently put the CCCTB back on the table, declaring that “we need action to make it happen”. The German, French and Italian finance ministers have urged the European Commission to draw up EU-wide laws to curb corporate tax avoidance and prevent member states from offering lower taxes to attract investors. The UK has been active independently – introducing the Diverted Profits Tax, and agreeing to reform the Patent Box.
These activities raise a number of issues. What are the most important plans for the EU? How do they relate to proposals likely to emerge from the OECD? And conversely, are OECD BEPS proposals commensurate with EU law and policy? How far, and in what ways, do member states continue to compete with each other? Are some forms of competition fairer than others? And in the focus on combating tax avoidance, what about the effects of corporation tax on investment and economic growth?
The conference included presentations of related ETPF-supported academic research, on the impact of corporation tax on growth, and on the potential conflict between OECD BEPS proposals and EU law. The ETPF has also recently commissioned four policy-oriented papers that attempt to summarise academic research on important policy issues. The first two policy papers were on the incidence of corporation tax and the evidence for base erosion and profit shifting, and two new papers were presented at the conference: on tax competition and on the effects of taxation on flows of foreign direct investment.
Presentations
Policy Papers
1 Who bears the burden of corporate income taxation?
2 Quantifying international tax avoidance: a review of the academic literature
3 The effect of taxes on foreign direct investment: a survey of the empirical evidence
Conference Presentations
Michael Devereux, Anzhela Yevgenyeva and John Vella
Peter Egger and Benedikt Rydzek
Tax and Foreign Direct Investment
Johannes Voget
2016
ETPF Public Conference 2016, London;
in partnership with the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Summary
Mike Devereux presented the initial findings from the ETPF’s Uncertainty Survey, which ran from January to March 2016. Fergus Harradence (UK Treasury) responded to the findings. The results of the survey were well received, as empirical data to support claims on uncertainty being harmful are hard to come by. Among other things, the results showed that BRIC countries take up 4 of the top 5 places in corporation tax uncertainty, and the top 4 places in effects of CT uncertainty on business decisions. Additionally, the survey showed that CT uncertainty has increased in 20 out of 21 countries in the last 5 years.
We then had presentations from two academics, Catie Magelsson and Simon Loretz about their papers on Where do Multinationals hold intangible assets, and why? and Co-location of tangible and intangible assets, respectively, with a response from Helen Miller of IFS. Catie’s database of 40,001 data points from transfer pricing reports of over 100 companies allows interesting comparison of different types of intangibles (tacit/codifiable and independent/complementary) and demonstrates that the vast majority of companies holding IP perform value creating activities. Simon’s publicly available data set is much larger and he has undertaken further work to seek to match this to patent registrations to determine which intangibles may actually be involved in receiving taxable royalty returns, and where they are located. Simon’s initial conclusion is that there are more instances of locating intangibles alongside tangible assets than the other way around.
Mike Devereux presented the first of our 2016 Policy Papers, Economic Theory of the Optimal Taxation of Multinational Profit. The paper discusses the traditional approaches of the optimal tax treatment of international investment and concludes that in the modern world it could be more economically efficient to levy tax in the country where goods and services are ultimately sold.
Irem Guceri presented the second of our 2016 Policy Papers, How effective are tax incentives for Research & Development? The paper discusses the existing literature that identify the benefits and costs of different types of R&D incentives, and the broader benefits that spill over into society from R&D. The findings to date suggest there is a positive reaction to R&D incentives of between 4% and 23% of the cost, but that more research is needed to identify more nuanced considerations such as effects of productivity, cross country differences, composition, and whether in an international context the incentives form part of a zero sum game.
2017
ETPF Public Conference 2017, London
in partnership with the Institute for Fiscal Studies
Tim Power (UK Treasury) joined us to discuss topical issues including US Tax Reform, potential developments internationally regarding the taxation of the digitalising economy, and the future relationship between the UK and EU’s tax policy agendas.
We had presentations from all three teams presenting research under ETPF Research Phase 12:
Firstly, Jost Heckemeyer presented a paper (co-authored with Christoph Spengel, and Katharina Nicolay from the University of Mannheim) on what the OECD BEPS Indicators may tell us when they are analysed following implementation of the BEPS recommendations; Helen Miller of the IFS discussed their findings.
Katarzyna Habu of Oxford University then presented her findings regarding how multinationals’ tax contributions in the UK compare to those of domestic companies with similar profiles. Tom Pope of the IFS discussed the findings.
Finally, Maya Forstater of the Centre for Global Devlopment and Rasmus C Christensen of Copenhagen Business School presented their findings on a project titled “New Players, New Game”. The project sought to identify how and why the taxation of MNCs captured the attention of politicians, the media, and the public, who the key influencers in the debate have been, and how this has changed over time. The findings are instructive for corporates and other stakeholders who wish to monitor and influence the debate as it continues in the coming years. Martin Hearson from the London School of Economics discussed the findings further.
Additionally, two further topical Policy Papers were presented. Michael Devereux presented the findings of an examination of the literature on Destination-Based Cash flow Taxation, and Martin Simmler presented a survey of the empirical evidence regarding the impact of worldwide vs territorial taxation on the location of assets and investment.
2019
ETPF Public Conference 2019, Paris
in partnership with the Tax Foundation
Summary
Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS)
We brought together the top economists in their field for an exclusive discussion of the economics of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and how these measures could impact businesses and economic activity.
These activities raise a number of issues. What are the most important plans for the EU? How do they relate to proposals likely to emerge from the OECD? And conversely, are OECD BEPS proposals commensurate with EU law and policy? How far, and in what ways, do member states continue to compete with each other? Are some forms of competition fairer than others? And in the focus on combating tax avoidance, what about the effects of corporation tax on investment and economic growth?
The conference included presentations of related ETPF-supported academic research, on the impact of corporation tax on growth, and on the potential conflict between OECD BEPS proposals and EU law. The ETPF has also recently commissioned four policy-oriented papers that attempt to summarise academic research on important policy issues. The first two policy papers were on the incidence of corporation tax and the evidence for base erosion and profit shifting, and two new papers were presented at the conference: on tax competition and on the effects of taxation on flows of foreign direct investment.
2020
Virtual ETPF Public Conference 2020
in partnership with the Tax Foundation
Summary
Work on the OECD’s two-pillar approach has been progressing with the potential for sweeping changes in cross-border tax rules.
On November 2, Tax Foundation joined the European Tax Policy Forum (ETPF) for a virtual conference with top economists, who discussed the impacts that Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 might have on:
- Tax certainty
- Investment decisions
- Country policy responses
- Tax revenues and economic growth
Presentations
Session 1: Has BEPS solved Uncertainty?
Measuring Corporation Tax Uncertainty Across Countries
Quantifying the OECD BEPS Indicators – An update to BEPS Action 11
- Download Slides from Christoph Spengel, Daniel Klein, and Christopher Ludwig
- Download Slides from Nadine Riedel
- Download Paper: Quantifying the OECD BEPS Indicators – An update to BEPS Action 11 by Daniel Klein, Christopher A. Ludwig, Katharina Nicolay, and Christoph Spengel
Session 2: Revenue and Economic Impacts of OECD Pillars 1 and 2: What do we know?
Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalization – Economic Impact Assessment
- Download Slides
- Download Paper: Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation – Economic Impact Assessment from the OECD
- Download Paper: The impact of the Pillar One and Pillar Two proposals on MNE’s investment costs by Tibor Hanappi and Ana Cinta González Cabral
- Download Paper: Corporate taxation and investment of multinational firms: Evidence from firm-level data by Valentine Millot, Åsa Johansson, Stéphane Sorbe, and Sebastien Turban
The OECD’s Unified Approach — An Analysis of the Revised Regime for Taxing Rights and Income Allocation
- Download Slides
- Download Paper: The OECD’s Unified Approach — An Analysis of the Revised Regime for Taxing Rights and Income Allocation by Kartikeya Singh, W. Joe Murphy, and Gregory J. Ossi
National Tax Revenue Effects of a Redistribution of Taxation Rights in the Context of Cross-border Profit Allocation
- Download Slides
- Download Paper (only available in German): Nationale Steueraufkommenswirkungen einer Neuverteilung von Besteuerungsrechten im Rahmen der grenzüberschreitenden Gewinnabgrenzung by Clemens Fuest, Felix Hugger, Florian Neumeier, and Daniel Stöhlker
Panelist Remarks: İrem Güçeri
About
The European Tax Policy Forum (ETPF) was set up in 2005 to commission independent academic research into the impact of tax policy on business in Europe.