The Impact of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on U.S. Multinationals' Intangible Assets

Ana Maria Santacreu and Ashley Stewart

Review, 2025, vol. 107, issue 4, 16 pages

Abstract: This article investigates the impact of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) on the intangibles of U.S. multinationals. We develop a theoretical model that incorporates key provisions of the TCJA—Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) and Foreign-Derived Intangible Income (FDII)—and derive testable implications for changes in licensing and patent transfer patterns. Using data on international royalty flows and patent assignments, we test the model’s predictions. Our findings suggest that the TCJA may have impacted profit-shifting strategies through intangibles, aligning with our model’s predictions.

Keywords: Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; multinational corporations; intangibles; patents; licensing; royalties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F12 O33 O41 O47 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Related works:
Working Paper: The Impact of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on U.S. Multinationals’ Intangible Assets (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedlrv:99730

DOI: 10.20955/r.2025.04

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