OECD should pause digital tax negotiations, US business group says

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) has urged the US government to try to convince countries to agree to temporarily halt negotiations over a planned update to the rules for taxing multinational groups.

More than 135 countries are striving to reach international consensus by the end of 2020 on revised international tax rules that would better account for new digital business models.

“While international tax consensus remains a critical goal, governments and taxpayers need to channel their resources to addressing the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Peter Robinson, USCIB President, and William J. Sample, Chair of the USCIB Tax Committee, in the March 23 letter.

The USCIB said that governments must prioritize responding to the global pandemic. They also noted that companies are under extreme strain and travel is not possible.

The USCIB said that OECD technical work supporting the “pillar one” and “pillar two” update could continue.

The USCIB also said that countries should suspend any unilateral tax measures they have imposed to offset their inability to collect taxes from digital multinationals under the traditional corporate tax rules.

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