---
_id: '61491'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: We examine behavioral frictions in entrepreneurs’ tax planning when choosing
between corporate and partnership taxation under a check-the-box rule. Using German
tax return data, we show that only a small fraction of entrepreneurs opt for corporate
taxation, despite substantial potential tax savings. A pre registered incentivized
online experiment demonstrates that complexity aversion, status quo bias, and
misperception about the corporate tax burden—arising from the interaction of corporate
and deferred dividend taxation—help explain the preference for partnership taxation.
We further find that these behavioral frictions heighten liquidity risk under
the corporate system, particularly in the face of unexpected cash flow needs.
Finally, a survey of German tax advisors indicates that tax advice only partially
mitigates these frictions. Some advisors misperceive the benefits of corporate
taxation, while others anticipate client biases and therefore refrain from recommending
the corporate tax system.
author:
- first_name: Kay
full_name: Blaufus, Kay
last_name: Blaufus
- first_name: Ralf
full_name: Maiterth, Ralf
last_name: Maiterth
- first_name: Michael
full_name: Milde, Michael
last_name: Milde
- first_name: Caren
full_name: Sureth-Sloane, Caren
id: '530'
last_name: Sureth-Sloane
orcid: ' 0000-0002-8183-5901'
citation:
ama: Blaufus K, Maiterth R, Milde M, Sureth-Sloane C. Choosing the Wrong Box?
Behavioral Frictions and Limits of Tax Advice in Tax Regime Choice .; 2025.
doi:10.2139/ssrn.5378466
apa: Blaufus, K., Maiterth, R., Milde, M., & Sureth-Sloane, C. (2025). Choosing
the Wrong Box? Behavioral Frictions and Limits of Tax Advice in Tax Regime Choice
. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5378466
bibtex: '@book{Blaufus_Maiterth_Milde_Sureth-Sloane_2025, series={TRR 266 Accounting
for Transparency Working Paper Series No. 203}, title={Choosing the Wrong Box?
Behavioral Frictions and Limits of Tax Advice in Tax Regime Choice }, DOI={10.2139/ssrn.5378466}, author={Blaufus,
Kay and Maiterth, Ralf and Milde, Michael and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}, year={2025},
collection={TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency Working Paper Series No. 203}
}'
chicago: Blaufus, Kay, Ralf Maiterth, Michael Milde, and Caren Sureth-Sloane. Choosing
the Wrong Box? Behavioral Frictions and Limits of Tax Advice in Tax Regime Choice
. TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency Working Paper Series No. 203, 2025.
https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5378466.
ieee: K. Blaufus, R. Maiterth, M. Milde, and C. Sureth-Sloane, Choosing the Wrong
Box? Behavioral Frictions and Limits of Tax Advice in Tax Regime Choice .
2025.
mla: Blaufus, Kay, et al. Choosing the Wrong Box? Behavioral Frictions and Limits
of Tax Advice in Tax Regime Choice . 2025, doi:10.2139/ssrn.5378466.
short: K. Blaufus, R. Maiterth, M. Milde, C. Sureth-Sloane, Choosing the Wrong Box?
Behavioral Frictions and Limits of Tax Advice in Tax Regime Choice , 2025.
date_created: 2025-10-01T09:26:32Z
date_updated: 2025-10-01T09:29:57Z
department:
- _id: '187'
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.5378466
jel:
- H25
- D91
- D22
keyword:
- Check-the-box
- Legal Form
- Tax Complexity
- Tax Misperception
- Behavioral Taxation
- Tax Advice
language:
- iso: eng
page: '107'
publication_status: published
series_title: TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency Working Paper Series No. 203
status: public
title: 'Choosing the Wrong Box? Behavioral Frictions and Limits of Tax Advice in Tax
Regime Choice '
type: working_paper
user_id: '97894'
year: '2025'
...
---
_id: '49873'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: This study analyzes the impact of tax complexity on the location of tax employees
and tax risk. Using a hand-collected dataset of more than 7,500 tax employees
from 348 European-listed multinationals, we identify two types of firm-level costs
associated with tax complexity—tax employees, and tax risk. We find that firms
locate more tax employees in countries with greater tax complexity. This association
is particularly pronounced for complexity in tax procedures. We also find that
multinationals operating in countries with high tax complexity are associated
with higher tax risk. The incremental tax risk vanishes for firms that locate
more tax employees in countries with highly complex tax procedures, while we find
no risk reduction from additional tax employees in countries with complex tax
rules. Our results reveal that multinationals eliminate 25 percent of overall
tax complexity-related tax risk through targeted location of tax employees.
author:
- first_name: Henning
full_name: Giese, Henning
id: '92812'
last_name: Giese
- first_name: Reinald
full_name: Koch, Reinald
last_name: Koch
- first_name: Caren
full_name: Sureth-Sloane, Caren
id: '530'
last_name: Sureth-Sloane
orcid: ' 0000-0002-8183-5901'
citation:
ama: Giese H, Koch R, Sureth-Sloane C. Where to Locate Tax Employees? The Role
of Tax Complexity and Tax Risk Implications.; 2024. doi:10.2139/ssrn.4888151
apa: Giese, H., Koch, R., & Sureth-Sloane, C. (2024). Where to Locate Tax
Employees? The Role of Tax Complexity and Tax Risk Implications. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4888151
bibtex: '@book{Giese_Koch_Sureth-Sloane_2024, series={TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency
Working Paper Series No. 149}, title={Where to Locate Tax Employees? The Role
of Tax Complexity and Tax Risk Implications}, DOI={10.2139/ssrn.4888151},
author={Giese, Henning and Koch, Reinald and Sureth-Sloane, Caren}, year={2024},
collection={TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency Working Paper Series No. 149}
}'
chicago: Giese, Henning, Reinald Koch, and Caren Sureth-Sloane. Where to Locate
Tax Employees? The Role of Tax Complexity and Tax Risk Implications. TRR 266
Accounting for Transparency Working Paper Series No. 149, 2024. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4888151.
ieee: H. Giese, R. Koch, and C. Sureth-Sloane, Where to Locate Tax Employees?
The Role of Tax Complexity and Tax Risk Implications. 2024.
mla: Giese, Henning, et al. Where to Locate Tax Employees? The Role of Tax Complexity
and Tax Risk Implications. 2024, doi:10.2139/ssrn.4888151.
short: H. Giese, R. Koch, C. Sureth-Sloane, Where to Locate Tax Employees? The Role
of Tax Complexity and Tax Risk Implications, 2024.
date_created: 2023-12-19T13:22:08Z
date_updated: 2024-12-07T14:13:15Z
department:
- _id: '187'
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.4888151
keyword:
- tax complexity
- tax complexity cost
- tax department
- tax employees
- tax risk
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4888151
oa: '1'
publication_status: published
series_title: TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency Working Paper Series No. 149
status: public
title: Where to Locate Tax Employees? The Role of Tax Complexity and Tax Risk Implications
type: working_paper
user_id: '530'
year: '2024'
...
---
_id: '2250'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: All over the world, firms and governments are increasingly concerned about
the rise in tax complexity. To manage it and develop effective simplification
measures, detailed information on the current drivers of complexity is required.
However, research on this topic is scarce. This is surprising as the latest developments—for
example, triggered by the BEPS project—give rise to the conjecture that complexity
drivers may have changed, thus questioning the findings of prior studies. In this
paper, we shed light on this issue and provide a global picture of the current
drivers of tax complexity that multinational corporations face based on a survey
of 221 highly experienced tax practitioners from 108 countries. Our results show
that prior complexity drivers of the tax code are still relevant, with details
and changes of tax regulations being the two most influential complexity drivers.
We also find evidence for new relevant complexity drivers emerging from different
areas of the tax framework, such as inconsistent decisions among tax officers
(tax audits) or retroactively applied tax law amendments (tax enactment). Based
on the responses of the practitioners, we develop a concept of tax complexity
that distinguishes two pillars, tax code and tax framework complexity, and illustrates
the various aspects that should be considered when assessing the complexity of
a country’s tax system.
author:
- first_name: Thomas
full_name: Hoppe, Thomas
id: '22671'
last_name: Hoppe
- first_name: Deborah
full_name: Schanz, Deborah
last_name: Schanz
- first_name: Susann
full_name: Sturm, Susann
last_name: Sturm
- first_name: Caren
full_name: Sureth-Sloane, Caren
id: '530'
last_name: Sureth-Sloane
citation:
ama: Hoppe T, Schanz D, Sturm S, Sureth-Sloane C. What Are the Drivers of Tax
Complexity for Multinational Corporations? Evidence from 108 Countries.; 2017.
doi:10.2139/ssrn.3046546
apa: Hoppe, T., Schanz, D., Sturm, S., & Sureth-Sloane, C. (2017). What are
the Drivers of Tax Complexity for Multinational Corporations? Evidence from 108
Countries. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3046546
bibtex: '@book{Hoppe_Schanz_Sturm_Sureth-Sloane_2017, title={What are the Drivers
of Tax Complexity for Multinational Corporations? Evidence from 108 Countries},
DOI={10.2139/ssrn.3046546},
author={Hoppe, Thomas and Schanz, Deborah and Sturm, Susann and Sureth-Sloane,
Caren}, year={2017} }'
chicago: Hoppe, Thomas, Deborah Schanz, Susann Sturm, and Caren Sureth-Sloane. What
Are the Drivers of Tax Complexity for Multinational Corporations? Evidence from
108 Countries, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3046546.
ieee: T. Hoppe, D. Schanz, S. Sturm, and C. Sureth-Sloane, What are the Drivers
of Tax Complexity for Multinational Corporations? Evidence from 108 Countries.
2017.
mla: Hoppe, Thomas, et al. What Are the Drivers of Tax Complexity for Multinational
Corporations? Evidence from 108 Countries. 2017, doi:10.2139/ssrn.3046546.
short: T. Hoppe, D. Schanz, S. Sturm, C. Sureth-Sloane, What Are the Drivers of
Tax Complexity for Multinational Corporations? Evidence from 108 Countries, 2017.
date_created: 2018-04-06T07:44:59Z
date_updated: 2022-01-06T06:55:34Z
ddc:
- '330'
department:
- _id: '187'
- _id: '635'
doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3046546
file:
- access_level: closed
content_type: application/pdf
creator: hoppet
date_created: 2018-04-06T07:48:31Z
date_updated: 2018-04-06T07:48:31Z
file_id: '2253'
file_name: Hoppe Schanz Sturm Sureth-Sloane 2017.pdf
file_size: 1077359
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2018-04-06T07:48:31Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
jel:
- H20
- H25
- C83
- O57
keyword:
- Complexity Drivers
- International Comparison
- Survey
- Tax Complexity
- Tax Practitioners
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
url: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3046546
oa: '1'
page: '28'
project:
- _id: '37'
grant_number: P01
name: Der Einfluss von steuerlicher Regulierung auf multinationale Unternehmen
publication_identifier:
issn:
- 1556-5068
status: public
title: What are the Drivers of Tax Complexity for Multinational Corporations? Evidence
from 108 Countries
type: working_paper
user_id: '68607'
year: '2017'
...