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Taxes and Foreign Acquisitions in the United States

By: Julie Collins, Douglas A. Shackelford

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Special Academic Report

Executive Summary We test the hypothesis that the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (TRA 86) induced acquisitions of U.S. companies by foreign investors from worldwide taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. jurisdictions, principally the United Kingdom and Japan. We find that tax advantages realized post-acquisition by U.K. and Japanese investors are very small relative to the size of the acquisitions. Thus, we conclude that TRA 86 did not significantly enhance the competitive advantage of foreign firms in the U.S. acquisition market.

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