THE IMPACT OF THIN CAPITALIZATION RULES ON THE CAPITAL STRUCTURE OF COMPANIES IN SLOVAKIA

The latest financial and economic crisis has influenced financing decisions in business entities. The growing trend of thin capitalization rules implementation can be observed in many countries, to restrict abuse of loans and interest tax shield as a tax planning technique. The paper investigates main changes in companies' capital structure influenced by potential imposition of thin capitalization rules in the Slovak Republic. The subject of investigation is also an appraisal of tax impacts on companies' decision making in case of implementation of these rules. The main source of data utilized in the paper is a national database of Slovak business entities. Our results could confirm that the decision making about capital structure of companies in Slovakia is sensitive to thin capitalization rules.