new framework for determining the magnitude of the corporate tax shelter problem

This dissertation introduces a new definition of a corporate tax shelter as any deduction taken by a corporation that was not intended as a tax expenditure by Congress. Unlike predecessor definitions of tax shelters that utilize laundry lists of indicators, this new definition effectively excludes tax code abuses, yet allows for the employment of legitimate corporate loopholes. Under this new paradigm of a tax shelter, a simple macro-framework utilizing only readily-available data and public information produced results estimating the impact of corporate tax shelters on federal receipts similar to estimates produced by other researchers using complicated econometric models that rely heavily on confidential tax return information.