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EU Closes Amazon, Starbucks and Fiat Probes on Tax Rulings
The decision ends three of the EU competition regulator’s attempts to crack down on international companies’ tax deals.
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EU Commission Calls Out Luxembourg Over Tax Planning Risks
The European Commission has singled out Luxembourg as the only EU country that refuses to adequately address aggressive tax planning, while Malta got the benefit of the doubt for promising to take steps to comply.
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Trump Targets Canada and Mexico With New Tariffs
President-elect Trump announced that he will introduce an additional 25 percent tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico until the countries stop migrants and drugs from crossing at the borders.
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Three Proposals for Fixing the TCJA
Reuven S. Avi-Yonah explains key issues facing the United States as it moves into 2025 with its potential major tax reform from the expiration of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
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U.S. and China Corporate Tax Implications for Pillar 2 Adoption
Xiaoli Ortega analyzes and compares the corporate income tax structure and governmental incentives for U.S. and Chinese corporations. She identifies key differences between the countries’ corporate income tax structures and their implications for U.S. and Chinese economic and political goals, as well as the implementation of pillar 2.
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Trump Wields a Tariff Bludgeon
Donald Trump is still two months from returning to the White House, but he’s already wielding tariffs as an all-purpose bludgeon to achieve his political and foreign-policy goals. Markets will have to get used to it because this is going to be Mr. Trump’s second-term method, no matter the economic and strategic ructions.
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Trump Pledges Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China
President-elect Donald Trump pledged that soon after taking office he will slap steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada, two of America’s closest allies, as well as China, the clearest indication since his election victory that he plans to follow through on the tough campaign rhetoric that helped propel him to the White House.
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Lighthizer on Trade, Tariffs, and International Tax
Mindy Herzfeld reviews former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s 2023 book, No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America’s Workers, for insight on possible trade and international tax policy in the next administration.
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Manufacturers Push for Preservation of TCJA International Rates
The National Association of Manufacturers is calling on Congress to stop the scheduled taxpayer-adverse adjustments to rates for key international tax provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act set to take effect after 2025.
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EU Official Says Avoiding Pillar 2 Tensions With U.S. Is Possible
It shouldn’t be "Mission Impossible" to persuade the United States to amend its minimum tax so the EU won’t have to apply the undertaxed profits rule to U.S. companies, a top EU tax official said.
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Tax Brief Cautions Countries About Amount B Scoping Criterion
Jurisdictions implementing the amount B transfer pricing simplification framework should carefully analyze distributors within their borders before setting the upper bound of a key criterion for identifying in-scope distributors, a South Centre tax brief says.
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Puerto Rico Told Qualified Minimum Tax May Not Be Possible
It’s unlikely that Puerto Rico will be able to introduce a qualified domestic minimum top-up tax in line with OECD pillar 2 rules because of its tax decree regime, business stakeholders told the island’s Treasury.
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Apple Ruling Exacerbates Absurd Situation, Saint-Amans Said
Former OECD tax director Pascal Saint-Amans said the EU should seriously debate profit allocation among member states after the Apple state aid decision and the standstill on pillar 1 of the OECD’s global tax plan.
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The Irish Government Is Unbelievably Rich. It’s Largely Thanks to Uncle Sam.
A clampdown on global corporate tax dodging turned Ireland into the nouveau riche man of Europe.
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Romania Risks Fallout From Early CbC Reporting Rollout
The American Chamber of Commerce in the EU has written again to the Romanian Ministry of Finance, warning that its early implementation of mandatory public country-by-country reporting throws into question the country’s “commitment to competitiveness.”
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Operationalizing the Formulary Apportionment Method in Pakistan
Sol Picciotto and Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed argue that it is time for countries to move toward using the formulary apportionment method for taxation of multinationals and focus on Pakistan to show how this could be done, in concert with other willing countries, based on standards now agreed to by the BEPS inclusive framework as part of its two-pillar solution.
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Tariff Retaliation Threatens American Pockets
The widespread tariffs touted by President-elect Trump during his campaign could raise prices and draw global retaliation, leading to additional costs for American consumers and importers.
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Portuguese Tax Benefits Promote Internationally Competitive Business
José de Campos Amorim explains how recent Portuguese tax legislation presents a series of tax benefits for business development by reducing the tax burden and attracting investment in various sectors of the economy.
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Looking Past Pillar 1 Through a DST World
Mindy Herzfeld examines digital services taxes and the role U.S. retaliatory measures against them might play in a world of more comprehensive tariffs.
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DAC9 Will Slash Pillar 2 Reports by Tens of Thousands, EU Says
The ninth EU directive on administrative cooperation, a proposed framework for exchanging multinational entities’ pillar 2 information between member states, will substantially reduce reporting, according to a top tax official on the European Commission.
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Sluggish Carbon Pricing Progress Poised to Pick Up, OECD Says
While global emissions coverage by carbon pricing instruments appears to have stalled in recent years, emissions trading systems under development are expected to substantially expand that coverage, according to a new report.
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Should Ireland Have Taxed Apple?
Reuven S. Avi-Yonah and Nessa Ní Chasaide argue that the EU's Court of Justice was misguided in the recent Apple ruling, which raises significant issues relating to the legal governance of corporate tax.
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Trump Win Casts Shadow Over OECD Global Tax Reforms
A second Trump administration, a Republican-controlled Senate, and recent actions by Republican lawmakers are likely signs that implementing the OECD’s two-pillar global tax reform plan is about to become much more challenging, observers say.
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Mexico Signals It Could Hit Back at U.S. With Tariffs of Its Own
Could a tariff war erupt between the United States and Mexico? A top Mexican official said his country might retaliate if the Trump administration placed steep tariffs on Mexico.
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Hoekstra Ready to Consider Digital Taxation if Pillar 1 Fails
Wopke Hoekstra, EU commissioner-designate for taxation, said the bloc will have to reconsider digital taxation if an international solution to issues blocking pillar 1 can't be found in the wake of President-elect Donald Trump's reelection.
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EU Braces for Trump 2.0
The EU is better prepared to respond to President-elect Donald Trump’s tax and tariff threats than it was in 2016, but the bloc is still bracing for four challenging years.
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Original Sin: Cost Sharing in the United States
Elizabeth J. Stevens and H. David Rosenbloom provide an overview of how U.S. tax policy enabled multinational enterprises to use cost-sharing arrangements to their disproportionate gain, with still-reverberating consequences for global tax policy.
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Kenya Resubmits Bill for Digital Tax Repeal, Global Minimum Tax
The Kenyan government has reintroduced draft legislation in Parliament that would repeal the country’s digital services tax in favor of a significant economic presence tax and implement global minimum tax rules.
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Rotten to the Core: The EU's Court of Justice Decision in Apple
Ruth Mason and Stephen Daly take an in-depth look at the Apple state aid case at the EU’s Court of Justice, pointing out how it is deeply flawed and explaining the role Irish and U.S. tax law combined to play in facilitating Apple’s tax planning.
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Course-Correcting on International Tax in the Next Administration
Mindy Herzfeld examines how each presidential candidate might steer international tax policy.
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IRS Official Previews End-of-Year PTEP Reg Package
An IRS official has expanded on what to expect, and what not to expect, from a long-awaited package of rules concerning previously taxed earnings and profits expected by the end of December.
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Puerto Rico Will Not Override Tax Decrees With Pillar 2
The Puerto Rican government does not plan to enact pillar 2 global minimum tax legislation that would void the constitutionally protected tax agreements that it has with multinational enterprise groups, according to an official.
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Wopke Hoekstra: A Wild Card in the EU Tax Arena
Wopke Hoekstra, commissioner-designate for climate, net zero, and clean growth, will be the EU’s next tax figurehead, but observers are scratching their heads over his agenda because taxation hasn't been uppermost in his political career.
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EU Commission Fully Supports Permanent Pillar 2 Safe Harbor
A permanent safe harbor under the OECD global minimum tax rules makes sense, and the European Commission is hopeful that it will be finalized soon, a top tax official said.
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DSTs Could Violate Tax Treaty Obligations, U.N. Official Says
A U.N. official has expressed concern regarding the global shift toward implementing digital services taxes, asserting that they violate countries’ treaty obligations because they are essentially income taxes.
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MNE Groups Could Benefit From MAP Expansion, IRS Official Says
Current treaty provisions limiting access to mutual agreement procedures to resident taxpayers should be expanded to consider requests by companies under controlled foreign corporation regimes or subject to upcoming pillar 2 rules, an IRS official said.
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Frustration Persists in OECD Framework Over Pillar 1
Although the co-chair of the OECD inclusive framework on base erosion and profit shifting remains hopeful for a final pillar 1 tax agreement, its members are disappointed that it hasn’t happened yet.
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Treasury Initiates Tax Agreement Negotiations With Taiwan
Treasury is taking the reins on creating a comprehensive tax agreement with Taiwan after the House and Senate started legislative efforts to relieve double taxation.
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EU Proposes DAC9 to Govern Pillar 2 Information Exchange
A new EU legislative proposal would create a framework to exchange pillar 2 information from multinational entities among member states and with non-EU jurisdictions.
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New U.N. Model Tax Treaty Article Is a Win for Developing Countries
A newly approved article amending rules on cross-border fees on services in the U.N. model tax convention will be good for developing countries, but its controversial nature may hinder its implementation, a tax professor said.
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South African Tax Chief Warns Taxing Right Fight Will Intensify
Fair tax policies must take into account the increasingly contentious battle for taxing rights in the digital economy and the growing momentum of a U.N. tax convention, South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said.
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U.N. International Tax Cooperation: The Terms of References Final Draft
Leopoldo Parada explains the development of an international forum for the creation of a more inclusive international tax regime; he focuses on developments at the U.N. and relates them to OECD developments in this area.
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Trump Flirts With the Ultimate Tax Cut: No Income Taxes at All
The former president has repeatedly praised a period in American history when there was no income tax, and the country relied on tariffs to fund the government.
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French Lawmakers to Consider Digital Tax Increase Proposals
The French National Assembly will soon discuss proposed amendments to the 2025 draft finance bill, which would increase France’s controversial digital services tax by at least 2 percentage points to raise much-needed revenue.
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Global Implementation of Pillar 2 Is Top Priority, Hoekstra Says
Wopke Hoekstra, EU commissioner-designate for taxation, told members of the European Parliament that while nearly all multinational enterprises will pay the global minimum tax under pillar 2 by 2025, the system is still at risk.
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OECD Global Tax Rules to Cover 90% of Companies by 2025
An estimated 90% of large multinational companies in scope of OECD rules will be subject to the minimum tax regime in 2025, the organization told G-20 ministers in a Thursday report.
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European Parliament Members Have Carbon Tax Demands for COP29
An environmental committee of the European Parliament has adopted a set of demands for the upcoming U.N. Climate Change Conference that call on the European Commission to push for carbon pricing outside the bloc.
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Tariffs: Back to the Future
Doron Narotzki explores the resurgence of high tariffs in U.S. trade policy, beginning with the Trump administration and continuing into the Biden administration, that were initially intended to protect domestic industries and reduce trade deficits, but have instead led to increased consumer prices, strained diplomatic relationships, and harmed global trade dynamics.
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Untangling Corporate AMT Regs, Loper Bright's Ongoing Effect, and Stock Buyback Regs
Larissa Neumann, Julia Ushakova-Stein, and Mike Knobler review the extensive proposed corporate AMT regs, explain the ongoing effect of Loper Bright, review comments on stock buyback regs, and offer updates on the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s economic substance doctrine report, taxpayers’ compliance assurance process eligibility, and IRS advice on foreign-derived intangible income and 245A dividends received deductions.
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What Authority for Proposed Dual Consolidated Loss Rules?
Lee A. Sheppard examines the recently released dual consolidated loss proposed regulations.