ICC: What the BEPS?

The International Chamber of Commerce recently indicated:

“[ICC] recognizes the efforts of an increasing number of tax authorities to revise their tax policies in response to the international guidelines outlined in the G20 mandated Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Base Erosion Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. ICC urges national governments to seriously consider the broader implications of their proposed measures and strongly recommends an alignment with existing guidelines that would facilitate greater consistency internationally and incentivise cross-border trade, investment and economic growth.”

The ICC also added:

“The global focus on creating a fairer and more transparent international tax system has resulted in many jurisdictions implementing measures at a local level in an effort to address offshore tax avoidance. In some cases these measures go beyond the proposals set out in the BEPS recommendations. While it is entirely within the prerogative of national governments to decide on their policies, ICC reiterates the need for coherent and co-ordinated implementation of the internationally agreed guidelines across all countries and in close cooperation with business, in order to align tax systems, protect government revenues and safe-guard cross-border trade and investment.”

[…]

“ICC has already cautioned against measures proposed in the European Commission’s Anti-Tax Avoidance Package including provisions for public disclosure of tax data which fall well beyond the scope of international guidelines and remains concerned that a number of other countries seem to be following in the same vein.

Notably, India has recently adopted into law an equalization levy that would be imposed on the payments for digital transactions, and not income, and therefore not fall under the scope of existing tax treaties, giving rise to potential instances of double taxation. Furthermore the Chinese State Administration of Taxation has implemented an initiative to collect financial data from the top 1,000 companies in China using their own software that could pose confidentiality and data security concerns. The US has also recently proposed regulations on debt and equity which would, if they were adopted, override the agreements between the OECD and G20 countries regarding the treatment of interest deductions.”

There is little doubt that these unilateral “measures” will lead to more and more international tax litigation in the coming years.

Robert Robillard, Ph.D., CPA, CGA, Adm.A., MBA, M.Sc. Econ., M.A.P.
Senior Partner, DRTP Consulting Inc.
514-742-8086; robertrobillard “at” drtp.ca
www.drtp.ca

The convergence of DRTP Consulting’s tax, accounting and economics expertise makes a difference. The information in this blog post is general information only. Data and information come from sources believed to be reliable but complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. DRTP Consulting Inc. or the author are not responsible or liable for any error, omission or inaccuracy in such information. The opinions expressed in this blogpost are those of the author. Readers should seek advice and counsel from DRTP Consulting Inc. as required.

Posted by drtp On 6 June 2016