Int'l Tax News

The Congressional Budget Office's recent economic outlook report is murky on how the 2017 tax overhaul's international measures lowered corporate revenue projections by roughly $110 billion, leaving space for debate aboutwhether business-friendly regulations affected the adjustment.

The OECD has published its long-awaited TP guidance on financial transactions that includes several new points on how to apply the arm's-length principle (ALP) to credit default swaps and economic modelling.

TheOECDis starting to design model rules governments can adopt to ensure sharing and gig economy platform operators report seller details in a consistent manner to tax administrations ÔøΩ and is asking for input.

Finance ministers added four jurisdictions to the EU list of noncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposesand adopted severalVAT-relatedtexts.

The EUwill enact a plan B if countries can't agree on a global tax update by the end of 2020, but for now, it's fully focused on plan A, the EU's tax chief said.

Turkey has until the end of the year to complywith European Union demands on tax transparency, or else risk being added to a list of countries that could face financial sanctions, according to Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel. The rules include bilateral agreements to automatically exchange bank informationwith EU members,which include Cyprus.

The authors consider the impact of the U.K. tax authority's Diverted Profits Tax so far, andwhat's ahead for multinationals.

A Luxembourg entity that owned a Canadian shale oil company and admitted involvement in a tax avoidance transaction has prevailed over allegations by the Canadian government that itwasn't entitled to treaty benefits.

The two-pillar solution to update international tax rules for the digital age that's being considered by nearly 140 countries is projected to raise $100 billion annually in corporate tax revenues ÔøΩ but that estimate comeswith caveats.

Evenwith pushback from domestic investors, there is a high likelihood that the proposal to repeal India's dividend distribution tax (DDT)will pass in Parliament, a practitioner said.

TheFinancial Accounting Standards Board's pending decision on disclosure requirements for disaggregating income taxes may involve a balancing act,weighing investors' benefits against additional costs that companies might incur.

U.S. multinational corporations could see new restrictions on foreign tax credits under legislation being pushed by twoSenateDemocrats.

The United States has indeed reached a détentewith France over digital taxation and is pushing ahead at theOECDon a global solution to modernize the corporate tax system,TreasurySecretarySteven Mnuchinsaid. Speaking during a February 12Senate Finance Committeehearing,Mnuchinprovided confirmation ofnews in Januarythat the United States and France reached a settlement regarding the latter'sdigital services tax, on the sidelines oftheworld Economic Forumin Davos, Switzerland.

The Cayman Islandswill join Oman, Fiji, and Vanuatu on an EU blacklist of foreign tax havens, making it the first UK overseas territory to be named and shamed by Brussels for failing to crack down on tax abuse.

The tax and trade communities in the United States, Canada, and Mexicowill have towork closely together to successfully navigate the road ahead on taxation of the digital economy, a KPMG tax partner said.

Treasury's proposed rule for sourcing sales of digital content is unworkable and should be revised to allow taxpayers to source those sales to the billing location of the first unrelated purchasing entity, according to several industry groups.

Capitalism needs a revolution, and fair taxation of major digital companies could play a big role in restoring capitalist values, according to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.

The U.K. Department for International Trade has announced the opening of a public consultation on the country's first independent global tariff policy in nearly 50 years. Commentswill be accepted through March 5.

Businesses have told the OECD that the use of consolidated data for country-by-country reporting under the base erosion and profit-shifting projectwould be more straightforward than aggregated data.

The OECD digital tax plan's minimum tax proposal departs from the base erosion and profit-shifting project's policy consensus, and its effect on tax revenue could be modest, according to a new report.

The OECD has suggested that an inordinately high ratio of royalties received relative to research performed is an indicator of profit shifting. It asked for comment, and business commentatorswere highly critical. Still, data on royalties received provide important if inconclusive evidence about international tax practices.

The removal of the dividend distribution tax (DDT) could encourage foreign companies to expand their operations in the country, although there is some nervousness around the proposed faceless appeals.

Washington and Brussels have stepped back from the Trans-Atlantic battle over corporate taxation butwill face tough decisions in the second half of 2020.

The profit reallocation proposal in the OECD's plan for a global tax overhaul is too complex andwouldn't go far enough in reforming current international tax rules, the Trade Union Advisory Council to the OECD said.

The OECD issued a statement (30-page document) lastweek on the status of the Inclusive Framework's efforts on tax challenges of digitalization. The author discusses the key takeaways from the document.

A German official said he is optimistic that nearly 140 countrieswill come to some conclusion this year on the OECD's global tax rewrite. But if talks fail to produce an agreement by December, countries considering plans for unilateral digital taxesÔøΩor ones that have paused collecting the tax, as France hasÔøΩwill likely move aheadwith those measures, said Christian Schleithoff, head of the financial division at the German embassy inwashington.

The European Commissionwants to bind the U.K. to strict state-aid and tax rules in the post-Brexit era, calling for the EU to be handed special rapid-response powers if it thinks Britain unfairly upends fair competition.

The authorsanalyze the new Italian digital services tax and explain their concerns over its relationshipwith the OECD Unified Approach.

The Houseways and Means Committee on Tuesday announced that it is set to hold a hearing nextweek titled "The Disappearing Corporate Income Tax," as Democrats have expressed concerns about the amount of taxes large companies are paying under President Trump's 2017 tax-cut law.

The rules for allocating profits among jurisdictionswhere multinationals operate are no longer fit for purpose, the head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's tax policy center said on Tuesday.

A group representing foreign-parented companies doing business in the U.S. has urged the U.S. Treasury Department to repealwhat remains of the Obama administration's earnings-stripping rules.

Any EU-U.K. trade deal should "uphold the common high standards" in such areas as state aid and tax to curb unfair trade and competition distortions, according to a draft EU negotiation mandate.Michel Barnier, head of the European Commission's task force for relationswith the United Kingdom, presented the outline for opening trade talkswith the United Kingdom on February 3, after the country officiallywithdrew from the bloc January 31.

Tax and trade officials say the OECD may be unable to achieve consensus by the end of the year on its plan for addressing the digital economy unless countries become more open to compromise.

Some U.K. tax policy measures, such as cutting the corporate tax rate and introducing a regional corporation tax system, could give the United Kingdom a boost after Brexit, a new report says.
According to research from A&M Taxand and Capital Economics, published February 4, the U.K. government has several options at its disposal to ensure U.K. competitiveness and economic growth, now that it is no longer a member of the EU.

In this article, the authors consider the economics of digital businesses and the value of user contribution, including through active engagement and the provision of data, to those entities. After considering several options, they propose a framework for estimating the taxable value that users in market countries bring to digital platforms based elsewhere.

The base erosion and antiabuse tax provisions added by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have several ambiguities that require an inquiry into the original intent of the BEAT. This article seeks to aid courts, scholars, regulating authorities, and legal professionals looking to understand this international tax provision and the concept of base erosion, by examining multiple factors such as its structure, legislative history, international tax principles, and the BEAT's similarities to recent international tax trends ÔøΩ like the OECD's global anti-base erosion proposal (pillar 2) or the digital services minimum taxes around the globe.

Lee A. Sheppard looks at the consequences of the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, focusing on how the transition periodwillwork.

Mindy Herzfeld examines comments the OECD received on its pillar 2 global minimum tax, noting thatdespite the array of commentators, the requests tended to focus on an exemption from the tax.

Martin A. Sullivan agreeswithwei Cui'swork on international tax that, among other things, hasstriking implications for digital service taxes.