Recoge: 1. Introduction - 2. The corporate tax rate-revenue paradox - 3. Corporate taxation and income shifting - 4. Data - 5. Empirical analysis - 6. Conclusions.

In Europe, declining corporate tax rates have come along with rising tax-to-GDP ratios. This paper explores to what extent income shifting from the personal to the corporate tax base can explain these diverging developments. A panel of European data on firm births and legal form of business was used to analyze income shifting via increased entrepreneurship and incorporation. The results suggest that lower corporate taxes exert an ambiguous effect on entrepreneurship. The effect on incorporation is significant and large. It implies that the revenue effects of lower corporate tax rates - possibly induced by tax competition -- partly show up in lower personal tax revenues rather than lower corporate tax revenues. Simulations suggest that between 10% and 17% of corporate tax revenue can be attributed to income shifting. Income shifting is found to have raised the corporate tax-to-GDP ratio by some 0.2%-points since the early 1990s.

This study explores the formation of the European Union's tax policy and asks why member states did not raise objections to it. The author's analysis is enriched by two further levels of inquiry. Firstly, he examines the 'Europeanization' of domestic tax policy in Italy and the UK, asking how domestic policy has changed and what is meant by 'Europeanization'. Secondly, he puts the European Union tax policy in the wider context of tax globalization. Will the liberalization of capital movement, tax havens and the flexibility of multinationals in managing their taxable incomes wreck the European Union's fragile tax policies?

How does EU law affect Member State corporate tax systems and the cross-border activities of companies? This unique study traces the historical development of EU corporate tax law and provides an in-depth analysis of a number of issues affecting companies, groups of companies and permanent establishments. Existing legislation, soft-law and the case-law of the Court of Justice are examined. The proposed CCCTB Directive and its potential application through enhanced co-operation are also considered. In addition to the tax issues pertaining to direct investment, the author examines the taxation of passive investment income, corporate reorganisations, exit taxes and the restrictive effect of domestic anti-abuse regimes. By doing so, the convergences and divergences arising from the interplay of EU corporate tax law and international tax law, especially the OECD model, are uncovered and highlighted.