Resource of the Month: International Tax and Business Guides
October 18, 2012
The library has many databases to help students research global business conditions. You can find many on the library’s Databases by Subject: International Business webpage. 
There are also several free, and mostly free, online services that are very helpful as well. Deloitte’s International Tax and Business Guides is one such service. There are two sections in this resource that offer quick overviews of the tax landscape for various countries. The first one is called Taxation and Investment Guides, where you can find comparisons of corporate tax rates, withholding tax, and indirect tax for 65 jurisdictions. For example, here is a side-by-side sample of the corporate tax environment for the United States and India:
| United States: Corporate Tax | Statutory: 35% | India: Corporate Tax | Statutory: 30-40% |
| The federal corporate income tax applies to bands of taxable income at rates between 15% and 35%. An additional 5% tax (subject to caps) is imposed on certain bands. A branch tax is imposed on dividend equivalent amounts. An alternative minimum tax is also imposed, calculated on a separate tax base at a rate of 20% (certain credits may reduce tax). The alternative minimum tax is due to the extent a corporation's tentative minimum tax exceeds its regular tax. The total maximum effective tax rate is 39.5%. | The corporate tax rate for domestic companies is 30%, along with a surcharge of 5% (2% for nonresident companies) where total income exceeds INR 10 million. In addition, a 3% education cess (tax), including indirect and service taxes, is levied. The 3% cess applies to the aggregate amount of income tax, plus the surcharge. Nonresident companies and branches of foreign companies are taxed at a rate of 40%, plus a 2% surcharge where the total income exceeds INR 10 million, and the 3% cess. A Minimum Alternate Tax is imposed at a rate of 18.5% (plus any applicable surcharge and tax) on the adjusted book profits of corporations whose tax liability is less than 18.5% of their book profits (effective rate of 20.01%). |
The second section in the International Tax and Business Guides is called the Highlights series, which offers a quick digest of the tax landscape of 150 jurisdictions, including Azerbaijan, Botswana, Brazil, Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, and Mauritius, to name only a few. These reports include information about:
- Corporate taxation
- Business regulations & intellectual property
- Foreign trade and investment
- Filing requirements of doing business in a country
- Personal & business taxation
- Labor environment
Combine Deloitte’s International Tax and Business Guides with one of Bentley’s country intelligence databases, such as Global Insight, and you will be able to make informed decisions on doing business around the world.
Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please Ask a Librarian. If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.