Technological changes and countries’ tax policy design: Evidence from anti-tax avoidance rules

We investigate the association between technological changes and corporate tax policy in 34 OECD countries between 1996 and 2016. We focus on the emergence of anti–tax avoidance rules. Using a shift-share design, we show that technological changes are associated with tighter anti–tax avoidance rules. We also show that there is no association with tax rates, but that there is a negative association with investment tax incentives. Moreover, we show that the association between technological change and anti–tax avoidance rules is concentrated in larger countries, in countries exposed to intangibles, and in countries with high profit shifting incentives.