NEW YORK, Nov. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Seventy percent of corporate tax professionals are in favor of lowering the U.S. corporate tax rate, even if that assumes giving up tax loopholes, according to a new study released today by the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters.

The Thomson Reuters Corporate Tax Department Pulse Survey gauged the opinions of corporate tax professionals -- from analysts to CEOs - on issues such as U.S. corporate tax reform, tax inversions, recent tax credit expirations, and transfer pricing practices.

Here are the key findings:


    --  Tax Execs OK with Closing Loopholes: Seventy percent of survey
        respondents said they are in favor of lowering the U.S. corporate tax
        rate, even if that assumes the closing of current tax loopholes.
    --  Inversions are an Unpopular Fact of Life for Large Companies: Only 12
        percent of all tax executives surveyed said they were in favor of moving
        their companies' headquarters for tax purposes, but 24 percent said
        their companies are considering a relocation and/or expansion in a new
        region to capitalize on favorable tax rates. That number jumped to 30
        percent among tax pros who worked for companies with $1 billion or more
        in annual revenue.
    --  Taxes Are a Big Factor in Corporate Financial Strategies: When asked if
        the U.S. corporate tax rate plays a significant role in their companies'
        global business plans, a 52 percent majority said yes. This number
        jumped to 59 percent among tax pros who worked for companies with $1
        billion or more in annual revenue. Just 15 percent of all survey
        respondents (and 17 percent of large company respondents) said they
        expect an increase in tax exposure as a result of pending corporate tax
        rate legislation.
    --  R&D Tax Credit Expiration Complicates Earnings Reporting: Thirty-six
        percent of respondents said the expiration of the R&D tax credit has had
        a negative financial impact on their companies and 28 percent said the
        biggest challenge they face in the wake of the R&D tax expiry is
        earnings reporting.
    --  Foreign Income Would Come Stateside, at a Certain Rate: Roughly one in
        four (23 percent) respondents said they'd consider repatriating offshore
        income if the tax rate was between zero and 10 percent. Thirty-six
        percent said that up to 5 percent of their company's cash is held
        outside the U.S., while 23 percent said that number was as high as 20
        percent.
    --  Complexity of Compliance Poses Biggest Risk Related to Transfer Pricing:
        Tax professionals see complexity and workload as the biggest risk to
        their companies concerning transfer pricing practices (35 percent),
        followed by the adverse tax impact of legislative changes (17 percent)
        and reputational issues, such as bad publicity (6 percent).

"At a time when global corporate tax policy is more volatile than ever, this real-world perspective from tax professionals provides valuable insight into corporate strategy," said Joe Harpaz, managing director for the corporate segment for the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters. "These results show that, despite increased complexity and uncertainty, they continue to find ways to confront that challenge and manage day-to-day operations without causing material impact to their core businesses."

The Thomson Reuters Corporate Tax Department Pulse Survey polled 212 corporate tax department executives, half of which work at firms with $1 billion or more in revenue.

To learn more information about the Thomson Reuters Corporate Tax Department Pulse and read the full results, visit https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/products/brands/onesource/resources/corporate-tax-survey-results.

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SOURCE Thomson Reuters