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Why are the banks paying so little UK corporation tax?


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Meeks, G 
Meeks, JG 

Abstract

This paper explores the dramatic fall in receipts of UK corporation tax (UKCT) from banks, and the widening gap between the global corporation tax recorded as payable in banks' financial statements and the UKCT receipts recorded by the tax authorities. It reviews possible explanations, including changes in tax rates, in operating profits, in deductions which reduce taxable profits, and in the share of profit originating in, or recorded in, overseas jurisdictions. It assigns significant roles to tax-deductible asset impairments and to the allocation of profits among different jurisdictions. It suggests reasons why the recovery in banks' global operating profits may not be accompanied by an early sharp recovery in UKCT receipts.

Description

Keywords

banks, corporation tax, asset valuation, overseas profits, tax avoidance

Journal Title

Fiscal Studies

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1475-5890
1475-5890

Volume Title

35

Publisher

Wiley