Int'l Tax News

Nick Clegg, Facebook's new vice president for global affairs and communication, on Monday called on governments to find "a betterway to tax companies like Facebook." Clegg,who made the comment in an interviewwith the BBC, also said it is "unbalanced" that Facebook pays the majority of its taxes in the U.S. "even though the vast majority of Facebook's users are outside the United States."

Tax competition between Switzerland's cantons is expected to become even stronger following tax reform, say tax directors at leading companies.

Tax directors examining tax technology opportunities know that regulating internal data and establishing a global reporting standard is a mustwhen it comes to the successful cross-border adoption of any digital platform. Blockchain is no different.

In this article, the author reviews the major international tax policy developments of 2018 and assesses the progress of initiatives to tackle base erosion and profit shifting in both the developed and developingworlds.

In this article, the author examines the effect of the "democratic deficit" in the European Union on tax policymaking in the bloc.

Critiques on the proposed U.S. foreign tax credit regs' lack of guidance on research and experimentation expenditures may not be new, but the language is getting more colorful.

The OECD'swork on hybrid issues during the base erosion and profit-shifting project inspired the U.S. Treasury to revisit the application of dual consolidated loss rules (DCL) to double-deduction outcomes.

Now that countries agree to explore several proposals to adapt global tax rules to the digital age, it just might be possible to achieve some kind of consensus, a top U.S Treasury official said.

The OECDwill hold a March public consultation on proposals that could lead to major international tax rule changes for the digital age, after countries committed towork toward a common solution by 2020.

German industrial group Siemens saidwednesday its net profit fell by half in the most recent quarter, to 1.12 billion euros ($1.28 billion), due to higher taxes and falling demand for its big-ticket power turbines as utilities turn to renewable energy.

Deliberate misinvoicing on goods traded between developing countries and advanced economies has an "outsized effect on development" by depriving countries of legitimate tax revenues, according to a report by Global Financial Integrity (GFI).

France's Kering SA, a luxury goods holding company that owns Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, said Italian authorities have informed a Swiss subsidiary that it owes approximately ÔøΩ1.4 billion in tax.

The Preserving American Justice Actwould end a tax exemption forwealth funds of countries listed as facilitating escape of their citizens from U.S. justice, Senate Finance Committee ranking minority member Ronwyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a January 25 release.

Amendments to Slovenia's Corporate Income Tax Act introduce a new general antiabuse rule and controlled foreign corporation rules consistentwith EU Directive 2016/1164 (the anti-tax-avoidance directive, or ATAD).

The European Commission has issued a non-confidential version of its decision finding that Gibraltar gave many multinational companies illegal preferential tax treatment.

In the nonconfidential version of its decision on Gibraltar's prior royalty and interest exemptions, the European Commission's competition authority said that small jurisdictions' preferential treatment of passive income is inherently selective in favor of multinationals.

Lee Sheppard considers the section 956 proposed regulations and their potential effect on borrowing practices.

The High Court of Bombay found that the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal did not address the issue of taxable royalties, even though it had all information necessary to address it. Therefore, the appealwill be restored to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal,which must decide on the question of law:whether there is a taxable royaltywhen Sony Pictures Networks pays fees to distribute television channels owned by associate enterprises.

Business at the OECD, also known as the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC), has issued a list of principles for digital tax methods,which include respect the Ottawa Taxation Framework principles, reduce occurrence of double taxation, reach a global agreement, and lessen administrativeweight on taxpayers.

Theworld Customs Organization has issued new guidance for customs authorities and businesses on tax and customs practice. Part 1 of this two-part insight looks atwhat the changeswill mean for companieswhich import into China.

Economists from across Canada challenged Ontario Premier Doug Ford's assertion that his provincewas headed for a recession because of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax.

More companies operating in India may be embroiled in disputeswith authorities over claims their profits aren't taxable since they don't have permanent business operations in the country. Indian tax authorities are becoming more aggressive in challenging their claims and finding that companies have a physical presenceÔøΩor permanent establishmentÔøΩin the country, meaning that their profits are subject to taxes.

TomTom has become the latest Dutch-listed company to take advantage of a tax loophole, in a single stroke saving investors millions by allowing them to avoid the Netherlands' 15 percent dividendwithholding tax. Using the loophole, the navigation software and hardware provider said itwould return 750 million euros ($852.6 million) of the sale of its telematics unit back to investors.

Companies operating in an uncertain Brexit environment could see their tax bills go up if they don't take into account volatility in the poundwhen they price intercompany transactions.

The EU Council of Ministers reached agreement on establishingwhistle-blower protection rules for employeeswho disclose company tax evasion and other illegal activities.Under the Jan. 25 agreement, private companieswith 50 employees or more and 10 million euro ($11.4 million) annual turnoverwould be required to set up an internal reporting system.

Despite four dissents inwayfair, all nine Justices agreed on one thingÔøΩthat Quillwas "wrong on its own termswhen itwas decided in 1992, since then the Internet revolution has made its earlier error all the more egregious and harmful." But the one error in Quill that the Court did not addresswas the most serious jurisprudentially: the deification of Complete Auto's empty phrase: substantial nexus. This Article addresses the Quill court's erroneous use of the term "substantial nexus,"which allowed it to bifurcate Due Process and Commerce Clause nexus, and thewayfair court's failure to finally put this mistake to bed. The Court in Quill latched on to this empty phrase of substantial nexus from Complete Auto to clear theway for Congress to overrule its decision.

The Trump administration's $1.5 trillion cut tax package appeared to have no major impact on businesses' capital investment or hiring plans, according to a survey released a year after the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years.

The European Commission on Thursday called on Britain to alignwith EU law its income tax rules concerning tax relief for losses resulting from the sales of shares, or face court action. Currently, only shares in companieswhich carry out their business activities mainly in the United Kingdom can qualify for the relief.

Francewill stick to its forecast for 2019 economic growth of 1.7 percent and broader plans to tax theworld's biggest Internet and software companies, finance minister Bruno Le Maire told Reuters Television on Thursday.

Six Democrats and a Republican reintroduced a measure Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives to tax carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions, and to redirect the proceeds to individual households thatwould inevitably face higher energy costs.

Financial institutions are feeling the pressure of laying the groundwork for the reporting requirements of the EU's mandatory disclosure rules (DAC6) as they take on a more vital role in tax planning and transparency.

Economists from across Canada challenged Ontario Premier Doug Ford's assertion that his provincewas headed for a recession because of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's carbon tax.

Multinational companies operating in the European Union can relax because lawmakers' latest push to force them to publicly report profits and taxes paid by country have stalled.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said atworld Economic Forum in Davos that the U.S. supports France's push to create a new global tax system.

The Dutch tax haven blacklistwill be used primarily in connectionwith the introduction of controlled foreign corporation, conditionalwithholding tax and advance tax ruling measures against international tax avoidance.

Mayors of both political parties have a message for the federal government: Prioritize your climate-change policies. Local leaderswho gathered inwashington, D.C., for the U.S. Conference of Mayors'winter meeting are ramping up pressure on the new Congress and the Trump administration to establish a national climate policywith aggressive greenhouse gas cuts and clean energy targets.

Panama recently enacted a law amending the country's transfer pricing rules and establishing a method for determining income derived from qualifying intangible assets that is eligible for preferential tax treatment.

Lithuania's State Tax Inspectorate recently issued rules approved by the Parliament in December to bring domestic tax legislation in linewith Council Directive (EU) 2016/1164 (the anti-tax-avoidance directive).

Although government officials have made a priority of ending the Netherlands' reputation for enabling aggressive multinational tax avoidance, a report by the Dutch government's economic research bureau says recent reforms may be inadequate.

Brazil's new economy minister reportedly told business leaders that the government is studying a plan to slash corporate tax rates and make up for the revenue hit by taxing dividend and interest payouts.

EU member states are poised to agree onwhistleblower protections and harmonized procedures for cross-border mergers and divisions.

While Ireland opposes global minimum taxation as a long-term solution to tax digitalization,what's lacking in the ongoing debate is a focus on value creation as it relates to tax incidence, Ireland's finance minister said.

Practitioners have called into question inconsistencies in the treatment of transactions involving controlled foreign corporations that allow noneconomic and duplicative losses in some circumstances.

Four former chairs of the Federal Reserve have joinedwith leading economists from both major political parties to issue an unprecedented call for a carbon tax in the US, saying "immediate" action is needed to address the risks of climate change.

Transparency and information-exchange efforts in the U.S. and around theworld are making it harder for multinational companies and tax evaders to hide information, an OECD tax official said.

Vodafone's India unit has taken the fight for refund of $675 million from Indian tax authorities to the country's top court,which agreed to hear the telecom company's in yet another tax battlewith the south Asian nation.

Cyprus has implemented the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance DirectiveÔøΩone of many taxation changes in Cyprus in 2019. In addition to the implementation of the Directive, 2019will be the first year inwhich the Cyprus tax authorities have to dealwith the new provisions for interest on back-to-back inter-company loans,which took effect on July 1, 2017.

With the recent tax demand for 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) from Perrigo Co Plc and the news that Analog Devices Inc. faces a much smaller, but potentially significant, tax battle of its ownwith Ireland, the cases signal that Ireland is taking a tougher linewith U.S. companies using the nation to lower its taxes and as a gateway to Europe.

Petrobras, Brazil's state oil company, is consideringwhether and how to appeal a $400 million tax fight loss at the hands of an administrative appeals court. The court on Jan. 17 upheld a revenue service assessment on the 2010 profits of Petrobras' subsidiary in Holland.