Analysis of Japan's Small and Medium Enterprise Tax System Using Corporate Data

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K03721
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Public finance/Public economy
• Research Institution: Kyoto Sangyo University
• Principal Investigator: Yashio Hiroyuki 京都産業大学, 経済学部, 教授 (30460661)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 小規模法人 / オーナー経営 / 法人税 / 所得税 / 節税

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In Japan, tax avoidance activity by small owner-managed corporations has traditionally been a problem. In other words, it is believed that managers of such corporations have received all of their corporation's earnings as salaries and retained none to avoid high corporate tax rates.
However, in recent years, the corporate tax rate in Japan has been greatly reduced, and the income tax rate (including social insurance premiums) on the owner's salary now exceeds the corporate tax rate. I analyzed data on whether these recent changes in the tax system have affected the tax-saving behavior of small owner-managed corporations.

Free Research Field

租税論

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

欧米では小規模法人の経営者が企業活動で稼いだ所得を税率の低い課税ベースに移して節税を行う実態が、個票データで盛んに分析されてきた。しかし、日本では分析に使用できる適切な個票の入手が難しく、そうした節税の存在はエピソード的に語られるにとどまり、その実態がデータで分析されることはなかった。本研究で用いた法人企業統計調査は税務統計ではないものの日本で小規模法人の実態を示す数少ない個票であり、これを用いて小規模法人の節税実態の一端を明らかにすることを試みた。