Officials from 86 countries endorsed new OECD guidelines on the application of VAT to international trade during the OECD’s April 18-19 Global Forum on VAT in Tokyo. Through the guidelines, the OECD seeks to ensure that VAT laws have a neutral effect on production and that domestic and foreign businesses are taxed equally in cross-border trade. The standards also seek to ensure that international business-to-business trade in services and intangibles is only taxed in the country of the customer. The OECD also said it is working to extend guidelines to cross-border sales of services to private consumers, to produce anti-abuse rules, and to craft provisions on mutual cooperation and dispute minimization. OECD VAT guidelines (1.5 MB), OECD Press Release, Statement of Outcomes, Speech of OECD Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki., BIAC press release.
