We examine the Netherlands around the Second World War, where the occupying Nazi regime overhauled the country's corporate tax regime and introduced a profit tax of 55 per cent. We estimate that the new tax regime cost investors at least 300 million guilders, an amount equivalent to 5 per cent of Dutch GDP in 1940. We demonstrate that the tax introduction changed the financing of Dutch businesses. In particular, we find strong evidence that debt financing increased because it provides a tax shelter. The changes in taxation also led to an after‐tax reduction in the cost of debt, which had large real effects on firm investment. After the end of the war, firms with more leverage had higher capital expenditures.

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公司税、杠杆和投资：来自纳粹占领荷兰的证据

我们考察了第二次世界大战期间的荷兰，纳粹占领政权彻底改革了该国的公司税制度，并引入了 55% 的利润税。我们估计，新的税收制度使投资者损失了至少 3 亿荷兰盾，相当于 1940 年荷兰 GDP 的 5%。我们证明了税收的引入改变了荷兰企业的融资方式。特别是，我们发现强有力的证据表明债务融资增加是因为它提供了避税措施。税收的变化还导致税后债务成本的降低，这对企业投资产生了巨大的实际影响。战争结束后，杠杆率较高的公司资本支出较高。