How BEPS changed Profit Shifting: Evidence on Business Functions and Firm-level Risk

We study how multinational enterprises have adjusted their tax strategies in the post-BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) era. Using three administrative datasets — country-by-country reports from the international exchange, tax returns of firms (including transfer pricing information), and financial statements — we provide evidence on how the organizational structures and business functions of individual affiliates, together with their evolving financial characteristics, shape profit-shifting behaviour. Furthermore, the analysis evaluates the riskiness of firms engaging in tax-avoiding practices, offering insights into the links between firm behaviour, risk exposure, and tax compliance.

Presenter bio:

Tomáš Boukal is a PhD student based at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. His research focuses on corporate taxation, profit shifting, transfer pricing, and firm-level tax risk analysis. He studies how taxation and firm behaviour are changing in response to recent OECD/G20 policy initiatives, including the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project and the introduction of the global minimum tax, using detailed administrative data.