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Foreign Exchange Risk, Hedging, and Tax‐Motivated Outbound Income Shifting
Author(s) -
DENG ZERO
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of accounting research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.767
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1475-679X
pISSN - 0021-8456
DOI - 10.1111/1475-679x.12326
Subject(s) - monetary economics , currency , volatility (finance) , foreign exchange risk , international taxation , multinational corporation , business , economics , income tax , state income tax , labour economics , international economics , tax reform , financial economics , public economics , finance
ABSTRACT Although outbound income shifting to low‐tax jurisdictions provides tax savings, it is often accompanied by nontax costs. In this study, I examine whether foreign exchange (FX) risk constrains tax‐motivated outbound income shifting by U.S. multinational corporations. My findings indicate that exposure to greater currency volatility is associated with less outbound income shifting, and this effect is stronger for firms with foreign affiliates using foreign functional currencies. I also investigate whether hedging facilitates outbound income shifting. Consistent with hedging lowering costs associated with exchange rate volatility, I find that U.S. firms that use more currency derivatives tend to shift more income to low‐tax foreign jurisdictions. Overall, these findings suggest that FX risk is an important cost of outbound income shifting.