Dear colleagues, The WU Department of Economics and DIBT cordially invite you to an ad-hoc Research Seminar on February 13, with Maarten van't Riet (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis) on "Dutch Shell Companies and International Tax Planning" Abstract: This work uses the financial statements of special purpose entities (SPEs) for explaining the geography of dividend, interest, and royalty flows passing the Netherlands. These statements contain the country of origin and destination of these flows and the corresponding stocks. We find that Bermuda is the most important destination for royalty flows. The origins of these flows are Ireland, Singapore and the United States. For dividends and interest payments the geographical pattern is more widespread. We find a substantial tax reduction for royalties by using Dutch SPEs. However, we cannot find such tax savings for dividends and interest with an approximation based on statutory tax rates. Still, the geographical patterns are partly explained by the corporate tax systems. High direct taxation between two countries stimulates the diversion of financial flows via the Netherlands, if this leads to a lower tax burden. We show this by regressing the financial flows on tax variables, such as the bilateral tax burden between countries, the classification as tax haven and a number of control variables. Time and place: Wednesday, February 13, 4.00 p.m. - 6.00 p.m., Campus WU, Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Vienna, building D4, entrance A, 2nd floor, Department meeting room 2.008. With best regards, Harald Oberhofer --- Univ.-Prof. Dr. Harald Oberhofer Institute for International Economics WU Vienna University of Economics and Business Phone: +43/1/31336-4984 Fax: +43/1/31336-4984 Email: harald.oberhofer@wu.ac.at<mailto:harald.oberhofer@wu.ac.at> Webpage: https://www.wu.ac.at/ie/mitarbeiter/harald-oberhofer/ Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) Phone: +43/1/7982601-468 Fax: +43/1/7989386 Email: harald.oberhofer@wifo.ac.at<mailto:harald.oberhofer@wifo.ac.at> Webpage: http://www.wifo.ac.at/harald_oberhofer