Shafik Hebous

Last Updated: April 25, 2024

Shafik Hebous

Shafik Hebous is a deputy division chief in the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department. He has led and participated in numerous capacity development works providing tax policy advice and technical assistance in several countries including in Asia (e.g., Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Maldives, and Myanmar), Africa (e.g., Swaziland, and Lesotho), Europe (e.g., Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, and Switzerland), and the Americas (e.g., Bahamas, Chile, Mexico). At the IMF, Shafik has also worked on surveillance and analytical projects including IMF flagship publications. Shafik was an adjunct professor at the OFS at the University of Oslo and assistant professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt. He has been a visiting researcher in a number of institutions including the economics department at the University of California, Berkeley, the Centre for Business Taxation at the University of Oxford, and the Research Centre of the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Email: SHEBOUS@imf.org

Personal WebPage: https://shafikhebous.com

Fluent In: Arabic, German.

Education:

PhD in Economics, Goethe University Frankfurt, 2010


Field of Expertise:

Development Economics

Open Economy Macroeconomics

International Trade

Public Finance

IMF Books and Working Papers:

Deciphering the GloBE in a Low-Tax Jurisdiction , Working Paper No. 2024/064 , March 22, 2024

Efficient Economic Rent Taxation under a Global Minimum Corporate Tax , Working Paper No. 2024/057 , March 15, 2024

How to Tax Wealth , How-To Note No 2024/001 , March 08, 2024

Cryptocarbon: How Much Is the Corrective Tax? , Working Paper No. 2023/194 , September 15, 2023

Taxing Cryptocurrencies , Working Paper No. 2023/144 , July 05, 2023

Excess Profit Taxes: Historical Perspective and Contemporary Relevance , Working Paper No. 2022/187 , September 16, 2022

Revenue Mobilization for a Resilient and Inclusive Recovery in the Middle East and Central Asia:Executive Summary , Departmental Paper No 2022/013 , July 06, 2022

Pareto-Improving Minimum Corporate Taxation , Working Paper No. 2021/250 , October 22, 2021

Capital Income Taxation in the Netherlands , IMF Working Paper No. 2021/145 , May 27, 2021

Taxing Multinationals in Europe , Departmental Paper No 2021/012 , May 25, 2021

Does a Wealth Tax Improve Equality of Opportunity? Evidence from Norway , Working Paper No. 2021/085 , March 19, 2021

How Does Profit Shifting Affect the Balance of Payments? , Working Paper No. 2021/041 , February 19, 2021

Global Firms, National Corporate Taxes: An Evolution of Incompatibility , Working Paper No. 20/178 , September 04, 2020

Exploring Residual Profit Allocation , Working Paper No. 20/49 , February 28, 2020

Revenue Implications of Destination-Based Cash-Flow Taxation , Working Paper No. 19/7 , January 15, 2019

A Destination-Based Allowance for Corporate Equity , Working Paper No. 18/239 , November 08, 2018

Italy: Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Reform , Working Paper No. 18/59 , March 16, 2018

Curbing Corporate Debt Bias , Working Paper No. 17/22 , January 30, 2017

Can Government Demand Stimulate Private Investment? Evidence from U.S. Federal Procurement , Working Paper No. 16/60 , March 10, 2016

IMF Occasional Papers, Pamphlets, and Special Issues Papers

International Corporate Tax Reform

Coordinating Taxation Across Borders, Fiscal Monitor, Chapter 2, April 2022.

- Corporate Taxation in the Global Economy, IMF Policy Papers, March 2019

- Tax Policy, Leverage and Macroeconomic Stability, IMF Policy Papers, October 2016

- Fiscal Policies for Innovation and Growth, Fiscal Monitor, Chapter 2, April 2016

- Taxing Multinationals in Europe, IMF European and Fiscal Affairs Departments, May 2021

iMFdirect Blog Posts

Crypto Poses Significant Tax Problems—and They Could Get Worse, with (Katherine Baer, Ruud de Mooij, and Michael Keen)

Tax Coordination Can Lead to a Fairer, Greener Global Economy (with Vitor Gaspar and Paolo Mauro)

Selected Issue

- Germany — Tax Pressures and Reforms Options, July 2019

- Fiscal Federalism in Switzerland, June 2019

- Capital Income Tax Reform Options in Denmark, June 2018

- Taxation of Corporations in Switzerland, May 2018

- A Review of Capital Taxation in France, September 2017

- Growth-Enhancing Corporate Tax Reform in Belgium, March 2017

Other Published Materials

- How To Tax Wealth? (with Alexander Klemm, Geerten Michielse, and Carolina Osorio Buitron), How-To Note No. 2024/001, March 2024

Lebanon: Putting Tax Policy Back on Track, (with Svetlana Cerovic, Michael Keen, Lydia Sofrona, Nate Vernon, and Christophe Waerzeggers), Technical Assistance Country Report No. 2023/008, January 2023

- Romania: Reforming Personal Income Taxation, (with Naomi Feldman, Jean-Francois Wen, and Philippe Wingender), Technical Assistance Country Report No. 2022/199, June 2022.

- Maldives — Reform Options to Strengthen Tax Policy, (with Lee Burns and John Norregaard), Technical-Assistance-Report (No. 19/196), IMF, 2019.

Publications in Journals (Refereed)

Pareto-Improving Minimum Corporate Taxation, (with Michael Keen), Journal of Public Economics, 2023, vol. 225, 104952.

Taxing Cryptocurrencies, (with Katherine Baer, Ruud de Mooij, and Michael Keen), Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2023, vol. 39(3), pp. 478–497.

Exploring Residual Profit Allocation, (with Sebastian Beer, Ruud A. de Mooij, Michael Keen, & Li Liu) American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2023, vol. 15(1), pp. 70–109.

Do Audits Improve Future Tax Compliance in the Absence of Penalties? Evidence from Random Audits in Norway (with Zhiyang Ji, Knut Løyland, Thor O. Thoresen & Arnstein Øvrum), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2023, vol. 70, pp. 305–326.

- Can Government Demand Stimulate Private Investment? Evidence from U.S. Federal Procurement (with Tom Zimmermann) Journal of Monetary Economics, 2021, vol. 128, pp. 178–194.

- Revenue Implications of Destination Based Cash Flow Taxation (with Alexander Klemm and Saila N. Stausholm) IMF Economic Review, 2020, vol. 68, pp. 848–874.

- A Destination-Based Allowance for Corporate Equity (with Alexander Klemm) International Tax and Public Finance , 2020, vol. 27, 753–777

- Curbing Corporate Debt Bias: Do Limitations to Interest Deductibility Work? (with Ruud De Mooij), Journal of Banking and Finance , 2018, vol. 96, 368–378.

- Revisiting the Narrative Approach of Estimating Tax Multipliers (with Tom Zimmermann) Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2018, vol. 120, pp. 428–439.

- Evaluating the Effects of ACE Systems on Multinational Debt Financing and Investment (with Martin Ruf ) Journal of Public Economics, 2017, vol. 156, pp. 131–149.

- Estimating the Effects of Coordinated Fiscal Actions in the Euro Area (with Tom Zimmermann) European Economic Review, 2013, vol. 58 (Feb), 110–121.

Shafik Hebous

Shafik Hebous is a deputy division chief in the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department. He has led and participated in numerous capacity development works providing tax policy advice and technical assistance in several countries including in Asia (e.g., Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Maldives, and Myanmar), Africa (e.g., Swaziland, and Lesotho), Europe (e.g., Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, and Switzerland), and the Americas (e.g., Bahamas, Chile, Mexico). At the IMF, Shafik has also worked on surveillance and analytical projects including IMF flagship publications. Shafik was an adjunct professor at the OFS at the University of Oslo and assistant professor at the Goethe University Frankfurt. He has been a visiting researcher in a number of institutions including the economics department at the University of California, Berkeley, the Centre for Business Taxation at the University of Oxford, and the Research Centre of the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Email: SHEBOUS@imf.org

Personal WebPage: https://shafikhebous.com

Fluent In: Arabic, German.

Education:

PhD in Economics, Goethe University Frankfurt, 2010


Field of Expertise:

Development Economics

Open Economy Macroeconomics

International Trade

Public Finance

IMF Books and Working Papers:

Deciphering the GloBE in a Low-Tax Jurisdiction , Working Paper No. 2024/064 , March 22, 2024

Efficient Economic Rent Taxation under a Global Minimum Corporate Tax , Working Paper No. 2024/057 , March 15, 2024

How to Tax Wealth , How-To Note No 2024/001 , March 08, 2024

Cryptocarbon: How Much Is the Corrective Tax? , Working Paper No. 2023/194 , September 15, 2023

Taxing Cryptocurrencies , Working Paper No. 2023/144 , July 05, 2023

Excess Profit Taxes: Historical Perspective and Contemporary Relevance , Working Paper No. 2022/187 , September 16, 2022

Revenue Mobilization for a Resilient and Inclusive Recovery in the Middle East and Central Asia:Executive Summary , Departmental Paper No 2022/013 , July 06, 2022

Pareto-Improving Minimum Corporate Taxation , Working Paper No. 2021/250 , October 22, 2021

Capital Income Taxation in the Netherlands , IMF Working Paper No. 2021/145 , May 27, 2021

Taxing Multinationals in Europe , Departmental Paper No 2021/012 , May 25, 2021

Does a Wealth Tax Improve Equality of Opportunity? Evidence from Norway , Working Paper No. 2021/085 , March 19, 2021

How Does Profit Shifting Affect the Balance of Payments? , Working Paper No. 2021/041 , February 19, 2021

Global Firms, National Corporate Taxes: An Evolution of Incompatibility , Working Paper No. 20/178 , September 04, 2020

Exploring Residual Profit Allocation , Working Paper No. 20/49 , February 28, 2020

Revenue Implications of Destination-Based Cash-Flow Taxation , Working Paper No. 19/7 , January 15, 2019

A Destination-Based Allowance for Corporate Equity , Working Paper No. 18/239 , November 08, 2018

Italy: Toward a Growth-Friendly Fiscal Reform , Working Paper No. 18/59 , March 16, 2018

Curbing Corporate Debt Bias , Working Paper No. 17/22 , January 30, 2017

Can Government Demand Stimulate Private Investment? Evidence from U.S. Federal Procurement , Working Paper No. 16/60 , March 10, 2016

IMF Occasional Papers, Pamphlets, and Special Issues Papers

International Corporate Tax Reform

Coordinating Taxation Across Borders, Fiscal Monitor, Chapter 2, April 2022.

- Corporate Taxation in the Global Economy, IMF Policy Papers, March 2019

- Tax Policy, Leverage and Macroeconomic Stability, IMF Policy Papers, October 2016

- Fiscal Policies for Innovation and Growth, Fiscal Monitor, Chapter 2, April 2016

- Taxing Multinationals in Europe, IMF European and Fiscal Affairs Departments, May 2021

iMFdirect Blog Posts

Crypto Poses Significant Tax Problems—and They Could Get Worse, with (Katherine Baer, Ruud de Mooij, and Michael Keen)

Tax Coordination Can Lead to a Fairer, Greener Global Economy (with Vitor Gaspar and Paolo Mauro)

Selected Issue

- Germany — Tax Pressures and Reforms Options, July 2019

- Fiscal Federalism in Switzerland, June 2019

- Capital Income Tax Reform Options in Denmark, June 2018

- Taxation of Corporations in Switzerland, May 2018

- A Review of Capital Taxation in France, September 2017

- Growth-Enhancing Corporate Tax Reform in Belgium, March 2017

Other Published Materials

- How To Tax Wealth? (with Alexander Klemm, Geerten Michielse, and Carolina Osorio Buitron), How-To Note No. 2024/001, March 2024

Lebanon: Putting Tax Policy Back on Track, (with Svetlana Cerovic, Michael Keen, Lydia Sofrona, Nate Vernon, and Christophe Waerzeggers), Technical Assistance Country Report No. 2023/008, January 2023

- Romania: Reforming Personal Income Taxation, (with Naomi Feldman, Jean-Francois Wen, and Philippe Wingender), Technical Assistance Country Report No. 2022/199, June 2022.

- Maldives — Reform Options to Strengthen Tax Policy, (with Lee Burns and John Norregaard), Technical-Assistance-Report (No. 19/196), IMF, 2019.

Publications in Journals (Refereed)

Pareto-Improving Minimum Corporate Taxation, (with Michael Keen), Journal of Public Economics, 2023, vol. 225, 104952.

Taxing Cryptocurrencies, (with Katherine Baer, Ruud de Mooij, and Michael Keen), Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2023, vol. 39(3), pp. 478–497.

Exploring Residual Profit Allocation, (with Sebastian Beer, Ruud A. de Mooij, Michael Keen, & Li Liu) American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2023, vol. 15(1), pp. 70–109.

Do Audits Improve Future Tax Compliance in the Absence of Penalties? Evidence from Random Audits in Norway (with Zhiyang Ji, Knut Løyland, Thor O. Thoresen & Arnstein Øvrum), Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2023, vol. 70, pp. 305–326.

- Can Government Demand Stimulate Private Investment? Evidence from U.S. Federal Procurement (with Tom Zimmermann) Journal of Monetary Economics, 2021, vol. 128, pp. 178–194.

- Revenue Implications of Destination Based Cash Flow Taxation (with Alexander Klemm and Saila N. Stausholm) IMF Economic Review, 2020, vol. 68, pp. 848–874.

- A Destination-Based Allowance for Corporate Equity (with Alexander Klemm) International Tax and Public Finance , 2020, vol. 27, 753–777

- Curbing Corporate Debt Bias: Do Limitations to Interest Deductibility Work? (with Ruud De Mooij), Journal of Banking and Finance , 2018, vol. 96, 368–378.

- Revisiting the Narrative Approach of Estimating Tax Multipliers (with Tom Zimmermann) Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2018, vol. 120, pp. 428–439.

- Evaluating the Effects of ACE Systems on Multinational Debt Financing and Investment (with Martin Ruf ) Journal of Public Economics, 2017, vol. 156, pp. 131–149.

- Estimating the Effects of Coordinated Fiscal Actions in the Euro Area (with Tom Zimmermann) European Economic Review, 2013, vol. 58 (Feb), 110–121.