Abstract:

This paper makes an empirical study on the effect of tax reduction on corporate leverage ratio by using the natural experiment of “Two Taxes Merging” of corporateincome tax in 2008 and the data of Chinese industrial enterprise database. Our findings are as follows. First, the tax reduction of corporate income tax reduces the enterprises’ debt ratio significantly. Second, tax cuts will lead to the rising of corporate debt as time evolves. Third, the impact of tax cut on corporate debt ratio presents heterogeneity among enterprises. That is, tax cut reduces the debt ratio of light industrial enterprises and non-export enterprises, and increases the debt ratio of heavy industry enterprises and export enterprises. Forth, the corporate income tax reform affects the corporate debt ratio mainly through enterprises with high initial debt ratio. Finally, the mechanism test shows the mechanism of “tax cut→increasing fixed asset investment→increasing leverage ratio”. This study suggests that in the supply-side structural reform, the government should pay attention to the strategy and precision of tax cut to achieve the incentive compatibility between tax cut and deleveraging.

Key words: Corporate Income Tax, Tax Cuts, Leverage Ratio

摘要：

本文以2008年“两税合并”为自然实验,使用中国工业企业数据,实证研究了减税对企业杠杆率的影响。研究发现:企业所得税减税显著降低了企业的负债率;随着时间的推移,减税将引起企业负债水平上升;减税对企业杠杆率的影响在企业间呈现出异质性,减税降低了轻工业企业与无出口企业的负债率,但提高了重工业企业与出口企业的负债率;企业所得税减税改革对企业负债率的影响主要通过初始负债率水平高的企业产生。机制检验显示,存在“减税—固定资产投资增加—杠杆率提高”的作用机理。本文建议,在供给侧改革中,政府应注意减税的策略和精准性,实现减税和去杠杆的激励相容。

关键词: 企业所得税, 减税, 杠杆率