This paper examines the effects of the 2017 U.S. tax reform, commonly known as the ‘Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’ [TCJA] on cross-border M&As of U.S. acquirers. The TCJA replaced the U.S. worldwide tax system by a territorial system, albeit with one important exception: the ‘Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income’ [GILTI] provision. Our results suggest that the outbound acquisition pattern changed significantly for those U.S. acquirers that are affected by the new GILTI provision. GILTI-affected firms acquire targets in low-tax countries and tax havens significantly less often after the TCJA. We also provide weak evidence that U.S. firms not affected by the GILTI regime acquire more often targets in low-tax countries and tax havens.
Dunker, Mathias, and Pflitsch, Max and Overesch, Michael