Insurance companies' tax management impacts premium rates and competitive advantage.
The article discusses how property-liability insurance companies manage their tax liabilities. The researchers use Myers' Theorem to show that the present value of expected tax liability is determined by the effective tax rate and risk-free interest rate. Lowering the effective tax rate can give a competitive advantage, but all firms may do this, leading to lower premium rates. Uncertainty in forecasting tax liability is important, and fuzzy sets methods are used to model this uncertainty. The analysis shows that uncertainty in tax rates is significant and may be underestimated. Myers' Theorem states that the present value of tax liability on risky investments is calculated as if they were risk-free, based on the effective tax rate and risk-free rate.