The impact of Multinational Group Structure on Effective Tax Rate: Evidence form Public Financial Data

The increasing globalization of business activities has profoundly transformed the relationship between multinational enterprises and corporate taxation. As multinational groups have become more complex and geographically dispersed, they have acquired greater flexibility in organizing their operations across different jurisdictions, creating new opportunities for tax planning and profit shifting. These developments have raised significant concerns among policymakers and international organizations regarding the allocation of taxable profits and the effectiveness of existing international tax rules. This thesis examines the relationship between the organizational characteristics of multinational enterprises and their corporate tax outcomes; by integrating perspectives from international taxation, accounting, and corporate organization, the study investigates how these factors may influence the Effective Tax Rate (ETR), which is used as a proxy for firms' actual tax burden.