Subsidiary X, located in a country with a 25% corporate income tax rate, and Subsidiary Y, located in a country with a 35% corporate income tax rate are part of a decentralized organization. They have been engaged in trade with one another using a negotiated transfer price of $50 per unit for sales by Subsidiary X to Subsidiary Y. Pipko, the parent company of both Subsidiary X and Subsidiary Y recently set a discretionary transfer price of $80 per unit for the transfers between X and Y. How will subsidiary managers in the decentralized organization view this decision by parent company management?

Allie and sarah decided that they want to purchase renters insurance for the apartment they share. they made a list of all of the items to be covered by the insurance policy, along with their estimated values. if the items to be covered total more than $3000, the insurance company charges an annual premium of 23% of the total value of the items. if the items to be covered total $3000 or less, the insurance company charges an annual premium of 20% of the total value of the items.

You are chairman of the board of a successful technology firm. there is a nominal federal corporate tax rate of 35 percent, yet the effective tax rate of the typical corporation is about 12.6%. your firm has been clever with use of transfer pricing and keeping money abroad and has barely paid any taxes over the last 5 years; during this same time period, profits were $28 billion. one member of the board feels that it is un-american to use various accounting strategies in order to avoid paying taxes. others feel that these are legal loopholes and corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to minimize taxes. one board member quoted what the ceo of exxon once said: “i’m not a u.s. company and i don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the u.s.” what are the alternatives? what are your recommendations? why do you recommend this course of action?

Amanda works as an industrial designer