Multinational

Mathias Cormann took office June 1 as the sixth Secretary-General of the OECD . . .

Americas

US plans tariffs against six nations as digital tax talks heat up

The US Trade Representative on June 2 announced and then immediately delayed implementation of new tariffs on goods from six countries – Austria, India, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the UK – in response to . . .

Europe

EU states should increase cooperation on corporate tax rates and base to reduce tax competition and avoidance irrespective of any global agreement, IMF paper concludes: International Monetary Fund→

Austria

EU reaches agreement on public country-by-country tax reporting

Negotiating teams from the European Council and European Parliament reached an agreement on June 1 on a proposed directive that would require public disclosure of country-by-country tax information by certain . . .

Africa

Israel, United Arab Emirates sign tax treaty: Reuters→

Asia-Pacific

South Korea expands R&D tax breaks to bolster semiconductor industry

The Republic of Korea signaled its intention to heavily boost its semiconductor industry with an announcement on May 13 that it will offer up to 50 percent tax credits on research and development (R&D) investment and up to 20 percent . . .

Africa

Kenya tax bill alters permanent establishment definition, increases transfer pricing reporting requirements

Ian Mota, Rödl & Partner, discusses Kenya’s Finance Bill 2021, which includes a new “permanent establishment” definition, country-by-country reporting requirement, and new rules for determining “control” among related entities . . .

Americas

US Treasury ‘Green Book’ details Biden’s international tax plans

May 28, 2021

The US Treasury’s Green Book, released today alongside President Biden’s FY 2022 Budget, outlines the specific tax provisions that the Administration seeks to enact this year, including significant proposals for overhauling . . .

Digital Economy

Self-assessment of Spain’s digital services tax postponed until July

May 27, 2021

Alma Delia Virto Aguilar, Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Valencia and Professor, International Taxation LLM, UNIR, discusses the status of Spain’s digital services tax . . .

Africa

Hungary, Ireland, UK reiterate resistance to global minimum tax while Germany remains optimistic

Hungary, Ireland, and UK officials have again warned that their countries will not accept the global minimum . . .

Americas

Key US Republican draws lines for global tax deal

US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) sent Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen a letter on May 24 outlining potential terms that he would consider acceptable in a global tax deal . . .

Americas

Costa Rica joins OECD

The OECD officially welcomed Costa Rica as its 38th member country on May 25 after it completed the process for ratification of the OECD convention and deposited its instrument of accession . . .

Asia-Pacific

Japan enacts corporate, income, inheritance tax reforms

Takato Masuda of Nishimura & Asahi discusses Japanese corporate, income, and inheritance tax reforms enacted March 26 . . .

Estonia

Greece, Hungary, Iceland fall short of tax dispute resolution goals, OECD review finds

Iceland has no bilateral advance pricing agreement (APA) program in place, and Greece, Hungary, and the Slovak Republic are failing to timely resolve mutual agreement procedure (MAP) cases, according . . .

Americas

Global tax deal should forbid DSTs, equalization levies, and DPTs and should define a broad, uniform tax base for the global minimum tax: Daniel Bunn / Tax Foundation→

May 25, 2021

Americas

G7 reportedly close to deal on new rules for taxing multinationals

The G7 group of leading economies is getting close to an agreement to shake up the global rules on the taxation of multinational businesses . . .

Accounting

European accounting group seeks input on IASB agenda

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) on May 20 issued a joint consultation document seeking input on the International Accounting Standard Board’s (IASB) future agenda . . .

Europe

Ukraine’s new transfer pricing reporting forms

Yuri Nikolaychuk, Associate Partner, Rödl & Partner, Kyiv, discusses recent updates to Ukraine’s required transfer pricing documentation . . .

Americas

The EU Commission’s objections to Amazon’s transfer pricing approach

New York City Economist Dr. J. Harold McClure examines why the EU Commission’s objections to Amazon’s transfer pricing approach resulted in Amazon’s win . . .

Accounting

IFRS clarifies accounting for deferred tax on leases, decommissioning

May 21, 2021

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) on May 7 issued amendments to IAS 12, the IFRS standard on income taxes, to clarify how companies should account for deferred tax on transactions . . .

Americas

US agrees to 15% global minimum tax rate, boosting odds for Pillar 2 agreement

May 21, 2021

The US, which has been leading the push for a global agreement on a minimum corporate tax, has proposed a minimum tax rate of 15% – a concession from the 21% rate that the Biden Administration previously . . .

Accounting

EU financial advisory members to field test IASB proposals

May 21, 2021

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) is asking companies to commit to field testing certain International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) proposals over the next few months . . .

OECD

Pillar One compromises to gain US and broader consensus likely mean any agreement would bring limited gains in terms of fairness, efficiency, and administrability, professor says: Aitor Navarro / SSRN→

May 20, 2021

BEPS multilateral tax treaty signatories provide interpretation guidelines

May 20, 2021

Issues relating to the interpretation and implementation of the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI) should be resolved under several guiding . . .

Americas

New Zealand will levy digital services tax on locally-derived revenues of Google, Facebook if no OECD accord is reached, Revenue Minister says: Jonathan Milne / newsroom.pro→

May 20, 2021

Europe

EU report finds states could improve policies on R&D incentives, tax avoidance

The European Commission’s Annual Report on Taxation 2021, released May 18, finds that EU member states have made progress in bringing their tax policies in line with EU priorities, but areas for improvement remain . . .

Americas

UK firm Cairn Energy sues Air India to enforce a USD 1.2 billion arbitration award in tax dispute against India: Euan Rocha & Jonathan Stempel / Reuters→

Europe

The UN transfer pricing manual’s guidance on IP valuation and royalty rates

New York City Economist, Dr. J. Harold McClure, discusses the latest edition of the United Nations Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries, released April 27, which includes some useful observations on the nature of intangible assets, yet it has a very sparse discussion of the evaluation of intercompany royalty rates . . .

More News

OECD report details its efforts to help developing countries during COVID-19