优化国家间税收分配的无形资产转让定价研究——基于跨国企业专利转移的证据

The Research on Transfer Pricing of Intangible Property Optimizing Tax Benefit Distribution among Countries: Evidences Based on the Choice of Patent Location within Multinational Groups

笔者利用186个国家和地区2014-2018年的跨国面板数据进行的实证检验证实了企业所得税税率对一国专利的净转移数量有着显著的负向影响,即跨国企业为减轻税收负担,将其所拥有的专利所有权配置于避税天堂和低税管辖区的子公司,使得知识产权许可和转让收入以子公司注册地的较低税率纳税,其中,开曼群岛是我国专利的第一大净转出地。不同税率指标的个体效应检验结果进一步表明,"专利盒"制度因其有利的税收待遇,加剧了专利收入等流动性税基流入低税管辖区。作为目前最大的专利净转出国,我国应加强一般反避税规则和"受控外国公司"立法在母公司的适用,以确保低税管辖区子公司的特许权使用费收入在我国的母公司纳税。针对本地企业支付的特许权使用费,应对收入流征收预提税。同时,作为吸引跨境无形资产分包研发、成本分摊安排和合同营销支持的实际价值创造地,以我国为代表的发展中国家应主张对本国企业参与开发的无形资产收入的一部分征税。根据本文的检验结果,这些反避税措施对于遏制我国无形资产利润转移和降低有害税收实践对我国税基的侵害具有实际效果。

Based on the panel data from 2014 to 2018 of 186 typical countries and affiliated islands in the world, this paper empirically confirms that the corporate income tax rate has a significant negative impact on the net transfer amount of a country’s patents.In order to reduce the tax burden, multinational companies allocate their patent ownership to subsidiaries in tax heavens and low-tax jurisdictions, so that intellectual property license proceeds and transfer incomes are taxed at a lower tax rate where the subsidiaries are registered.For example,the Cayman Islands is the largest net transfer-out of Chinese patents.A further individual effects examination indicates that the patent box system has intensified the liquidity tax base, such as patent income into the tax preferential jurisdiction due to its favorable tax treatment.As a country with the maximun amount of net transfer-out patents, China should strengthen the utilization of general anti-tax avoidance rules and the legislation of controlled foreign companies in parent companies to ensure that the royalties of subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions are taxed in the parent company.For the royalties paid by local companies, the withholding taxes should be imposed on the income stream.Meanwhile, as the place of practical value creation to attract cross-border intangible assets subcontracting R&D, cost contribution arrangements and contract marketing support,developing countries represented by China should advocate taxation on the intangible assets income entitled by domestic enterprises.According to our empirical results, these anti-tax avoidance measures have significant effects on restricting the outflow of China’s intangible assets and reducing the harmful tax practices on China’s tax base.