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Bathusi Gabanatlhong, Javier Garcia-Bernardo, Paulinus Iyika, Miroslav Palansky ■ Profit shifting by multinational corporations: Evidence from transaction-level data in Nigeria

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Tax justice reports
Tax justice reports

Profit shifting by multinational corporations: Evidence from transaction-level data in Nigeria

In a collaboration with Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service, we study the relative importance of different profit shifting channels using a novel source of administrative level data.

We study profit shifting using a novel source of administrative data on transactions of multinational corporations in Nigeria with related parties abroad. The data categorizes intra-group transactions into seven types: tangible goods, service and fees, royalties, interest, dividends, reimbursements, and other. We identify transactions most used for profit shifting and their relative importance. Profits reported in Nigeria are highly sensitive to hypothetical tax paid in partner jurisdictions: a 1 per cent increase in hypothetical tax on outgoing transactions is associated with a 0.71 per cent increase in reported profits in Nigeria. Payments for interest and service and fees emerge as key profit-shifting channels.

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