Corporate tax cuts don’t work

That’s the headline of a short article in the current edition of The World Today, the flagship publication of London-based think tank Chatham House. An excerpt:

“Countries need not engage in a global race on tax. IMF research has shown that many developing countries have lost out heavily through trying to compete on tax: Kenya looks set to abolish its extensive tax holidays which it estimates cost it $1.1 billion annually, with little reward in genuine new jobs or investment.”

The authors http://humanrightsfilmnetwork.org/ultram will be familiar to regular readers of this blog.

Please let us know in the comments if you disagree with anything in here, with a detailed explanation of why you disagree. We are surprised that nobody else has picked up on these basic ideas, and that so many people think that it’s a good idea for a country to try and engage in tax wars – which have no redeeming features.