Int'l Tax News

By Tatiana Falcão

Tatiana Falcão examines the status of the OECD'swork program on the digitalization of the economy and considerswhat a consensus solution might look like.

French President Emmanuel Macron is pressing aheadwith a digital tax in France, a move U.S. President Donald Trump described as "foolishness", and the French leader is keen to reach an international agreement on taxing big tech companies. Late onwednesday, Macron urged the Trump administration to help reform global corporate taxes.

As a small open economy, Ireland may be affected significantly by the OECD's proposals to modify how taxing rights are allocated among countries, Irish business association Ibec has said. The OECD is developing new digital tax rules thatwould be presented for adoption internationally at the end of 2020,whichwill focus on two central pillars.

The Cayman Government has set out how companies should complywith new economic substance requirements,which must be met for certain companies to access the territory's tax regime. Under new requirements dictated in large part by the EU, companies that are tax resident in a low or no tax jurisdiction, and are engaged in key activities identified by the EU, must demonstrate that they meet minimum substance requirements as part of their annual tax return to access the territories' tax regimes.

The Brazilian tax system is globally known for its enormous complexity. Not only is the tax burden very high, but there are five different indirect taxes: ICMS, ISS, IPI, PIS and COFINS. This leads to innumerous ancillary obligations not to mention conflicts of jurisdiction between the federal government, states and municipalities on the tax levied on a great number of activities.

By Ryan Finley

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the Tax Court's 2017 decision in favor of Amazon, holding that the transfer pricing regulations' definition of the term "intangible property" excludes goodwill, going concern value, and other residual business assets.

By Martin A. Sullivan

In economic analysis, Martin A. Sullivan examines the overall tax effect of a U.S. multinational shifting profit among its controlled foreign corporations and finds that, due to a quirk in the basic architecture of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act rules, moving income from the high-tax jurisdiction to the low-tax jurisdiction is not always a tax minimizing strategy and may in fact backfire.

By Mindy Herzfeld

In the third in a series on guidance addressing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Mindy Herzfeld examines possible themes in that guidance.

Bywei Zhuang

In this article, the author discusses the major regulations to implement the base erosion and profit-shifting project in China and analyzes the impact on tax administration and tax compliance. She also provides an outlook on China's tax administration in combating BEPS.

By Francois Chadwick

In this article, the author proposes a multilateral solution to the tax challenges of the digital economy.

Mr. Trump's tax cuts unquestionably stimulated the American economy in 2018, helping to push economic growth to 2.5 percent for the year and fueling an increase in manufacturing jobs. But statistics from the government and other sources do not support Mr. Trump's claim about his policies' effectiveness in drawing investment and jobs from abroad.

Sen. Elizabethwarren, a Democratic presidential contender,wants to use U.S. trade agreements as leverage to ensure compliancewith international standards on preventing tax avoidance ÔøΩ an approach that could make both trade and tax negotiations much more complicated.

By Peter Menyasz

Canada plans to hike taxes on stock options that top-paid executives receive from large companies. The changes proposed in draft legislationwould bring Canada's tax treatment of stock options more in linewith U.S. tax treatment of options and restore the tax break's focus on helping small companies, like start-ups.

By Stephanie Bodoni

Apple Inc.'s 13 billion-euro ($14.4 billion) battlewith the European Union reaches the bloc's courts next month in a hearing set to throw the spotlight on antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager's crackdown on tax deals doled out to big companies.

By Tax Analyst

The Singapore Ministry of Finance issued a summary of responses to its consultation on proposed income tax changes thatwould, among other things, increase the deemed expense ratio and clarify the revocation of tax incentive awards.

By Ryan Finley

The Norwegian government has proposed amended intragroup contribution rules to complywith a ruling by the European Free Trade Association Court,which held that the regime's residence restrictions violate the right to freedom of establishment.

By Thomas Horst

Thomas Horst continues his assessment of the effect the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has had on the effective tax rates of large U.S. nonfinancial corporations based on information corporations provide in the financial statements they includewith their annual SEC Forms 10-K.

By Ryan Finley

The Australian Taxation Office's focused and transparent transfer pricing enforcement approach is paying off as many multinationals are abandoning high-risk arrangements and engaging more in the compliance process, according to an ATO official.

By Lucas De Lima Carvalho

Lucas de Lima Carvalho discusses pillar 2 of the OECDwork program,which is intended to address base erosion and profit-shifting issues that have remained unresolved after the conclusion of the OECD's BEPS initiative.

By Tax Analyst

In testimony provided regarding the U.S. Trade Representative's investigation into the French digital services tax, Peter Hiltz, director of international tax policy and planning at Amazon, outlined the negative effect of the turnover tax and the inconsistency of unilateral digital tax laws as Amazon's primary concernswith the French DST.

Bywilliam C. Barrett

William C. Barrett proposes a profit allocation approach to match the concepts under the OECD's pillar 1with the guiding principles previously established under the base erosion and profit-shifting project.

By Kristen A. Parillo

While Treasury's proposed rules for characterizing cloud computing transactions contained no big surprises, some practitioners say the draft sourcing rule for sales of digital content could present big problems for some foreign companies.

By Annagabriella Colon

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says the French digital services tax is the result of unsound tax policy, but it has recommended dispute proceedings at thewTO rather than tariffs on French imports.

By Leopoldo Parada

Leopoldo Parada analyzes the EU advocate general's opinion in Vodafone Magyarország, explaining how the analysis of a Hungarian telecommunications tax affects ongoing debates regarding the legality of digital turnover-based taxes unilaterally passed by member states and then presenting an alternative technique for evaluating digital services taxes.

By Ryan Finley

The OECD has released a second peer review monitoring report on U.S. mutual agreement procedures urging the United States to promptly amend its treaties that do not meet minimum dispute resolution standards.

By Tax Analyst

The Court of Justice of the European Union has published the reference for a case (C-403/19) onwhether EU law allows for the double taxation of dividends paid to a company subject to corporation tax in its state of residence and in another member state inwhich it must paywithholding taxes.

By Tax Analyst

In their response to the section 301 investigation of France's digital services tax, U.S. think tank group the Tax Foundation, outlines the structure of the French digital services tax, the impact of the tax on foreign firms, and the costs of escalation using tariffs.

By Tax Analyst

In their response to the U.S. Trade Representative's investigation into the French digital services tax, U.S. advocacy group Americans for Tax Reform said the French taxwill harm consumers and small businesses more than large technology companies, the French DST violates international tax policy standards, and the French DSTwill harm the innovation ecosystem.

By Annagabriella Colon

Joe Kennedy, senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, is among several observerswho have expressed support for the U.S. Trade Representative's section 301 investigation of France's new digital services tax.

By Adrian Sawyer

In this article, the author discusses New Zealand's proposed digital services tax, outlines the government's goals in implementing a DST, and analyzes the potential implications.

By Oliver R. Hoor

In this article, the author analyzes the importance of substance in international tax law and how it has been reshaped by the OECD's base erosion and profit-shifting project.

By Allison Christians

In this article, the author considers the late economist Peggy Musgrave and herwork's lasting influence on modern-day tax and public finance policy, especially regarding efforts to tax the digital economy.

By Carrie Brandon Elliot

In the second part of her series, Carrie Brandon Elliot describes how the section 245A temporary regulations limit dividends received deductionswhen domestic corporate shareholders have extraordinary reductions in their CFC stock ownership.

By Amanda Athanasiou

Earnings-season announcements of major pharmaceutical firms undertaking multibillion-dollar deals may be a sign of the increased flexibility enjoyed by U.S. multinationals considering cross-border mergers and acquisitions since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

By Kristen A. Parillo

Treasury has issued proposed rules on classifying cloud transactions as either a provision of services or a lease of property.

By Martin A. Sullivan

In economic analysis, Martin A. Sullivan examines the incentives for U.S. multinational corporations to shift profit out of the United States.

By Annagabriella Colon

Associations from Austria and the Czech Republic have criticized the digital services taxes proposed by their governments,warning that the move could be challenged as unconstitutional.

By Stephanie Soong Johnston

Many U.K digital tech businesses are against tax avoidance, and some have expressed frustrationwith the tax practices of global tech companies operating in the United Kingdom, according to new HM Revenue & Customs research.

By Ryan Finley

African governments that lack the resources necessary to enforce complex transfer pricing rules should carefully design safe harbors that approximate arm's-length outcomeswhile simplifying tax administration, according to a paper released by a nongovernmental organization.

By Nathan Boidman and Michael N. Kandev

Nathan Boidman and Michael N. Kandev discuss Canada's ratification of the OECD's multilateral instrument, focusing on the rules of entry into force and effect of the MLI for Canada. They also consider Canada's position on the MLI and the principal purpose test.

By Annagabriella Colon

The Association of Large French Companies has recommended that the U.S. trade representative postpone a final assessment concerning France's digital services tax until the OECD concludes its digital economy taxationwork in 2020.

By Annagabriella Colon

The United Kingdom asserts that the European Commission selected an artificially narrow reference frameworkwhen it found that an exemption from its controlled foreign corporation rules for intragroup financing profit constituted state aid.

Bywilliam Hoke

Qualifying businesses carrying out manufacturing and research and development in the newly expanded Shanghai Free Trade Zonewill pay income tax at a reduced rate of 15 percent, China's State Council has announced.

By Tax Analyst

The General Court of the European Union has published the reference for the United Kingdom's appeal (T-363/19) of a European Commission ruling that found a U.K. CFC group financing exemption constitutes unlawful state aid that benefited some U.K. companies in violation of the EU freedom of establishment.