One of the most serious effects of offshoring is tax avoidance, which harms the economies of the affected regions. In an attempt to eradicate tax avoidance, the EU seeks to establish tax harmonization across its Member States. Based on data for 2006–2014, this study analyzes the historical evolution and current trends of a convergence or divergence of the tax burden for 15 EU Member States. The effective tax rate was used to assess the tax burden. This study used a novel approach to analyze the tax burden and conducted a cluster analysis to examine changes in the effective tax rates between 2006 and 2014. The results imply that when the economy prospers, effective tax rates tend to converge. In contrast, during periods of economic downturns, effective tax rates diverge. This divergence occurs because of differences in Member States’ tax policies that reflect the various strategies that are adopted by different Member States to combat economic crises. Therefore, the tax harmonization criteria that were established by the EU are relegated to the background and offshoring is encouraged.

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欧盟的离岸外包：税收负担演变的研究

离岸外包最严重的影响之一是避税，这损害了受影响地区的经济。为了消除避税现象，欧盟寻求在其成员国之间建立税收统一。本研究基于 2006-2014 年的数据，分析了 15 个欧盟成员国税收负担趋同或趋异的历史演变和当前趋势。实际税率用于评估税负。本研究采用了一种新的税负分析方法，并通过聚类分析来检验 2006 年至 2014 年间有效税率的变化。结果表明，当经济繁荣时，有效税率趋于趋同。相比之下，在经济低迷时期，有效税率会有所不同。之所以出现这种分歧，是因为成员国税收政策的差异反映了不同成员国为应对经济危机而采取的各种战略。因此，欧盟制定的税收统一标准被搁置一旁，并鼓励离岸外包。