Question: Suppose a firm has a tax loss in the current period of $10 million, which when added to prior tax losses gives it an NOL carryforward of $15 million. The top statutory tax rate for the foreseeable future is 35%. Assume an after-tax discount rate of 10% and future taxable income per annum of $2 million.
a. What is the firm's marginal explicit tax rate?
b. What is the firm's marginal explicit tax rate if the top statutory tax rate is expected to increase to 40% within the next 2 years?