We develop an approach based on publicly available data to decompose and quantify tax avoidance into two separate components: tax rate avoidance and tax base avoidance. Our measures are based on the average statutory tax rate, which accounts for the statutory tax rates across all transactions of a firm. We illustrate and validate our measures using simulation data, the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, changes in tax rate avoidance and tax base avoidance across time, bonus depreciation time periods, several sample splits of U.S. multinational and domestic firms, differences across industries, and firms operating in tax haven locations. The measures allow regulators and researchers to gain insights into these two conceptually different tax avoidance strategies.

我们开发了基于公开数据的方法来分解和量化避税分为两个独立部分：所得税率避税和税收基础避税。我们的衡量标准基于平均法定税率，该税率考虑了公司所有交易的法定税率。我们使用模拟数据、1986 年税收改革法案、2017 年减税和就业法案、避税和避税基数随时间的变化、奖金折旧时间段、美国跨国公司和国内公司、跨行业差异以及在避税地运营的公司。这些措施使监管机构和研究人员能够深入了解这两种概念上不同的避税策略。