The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017 took a new direction for the treatment of U.S. multinationals. Six significant reforms departed from the old system:
The U.S. no longer has a worldwide tax system for taxing corporate income. But it does not have a truly territorial system either. Instead, the U.S. now has a hybrid system with some worldwide taxation, without deferral, for certain foreign income because of GILTI and Subpart F and a tax on certain cross-border transactions.
Countries participating in the OECD Inclusive Framework’s negotiations on cross-border tax rules hope to reach an agreement by mid-2021. After negotiations stalled somewhat in 2020, there is hope that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s commitment to reaching an agreement will allow progress to be made this year.
The posts below include our research and analysis of policies related to cross-border tax rules, including Global Intangible Low Tax Income (GILTI), Foreign Derived Intangible Income (FDII), Base Erosion and Anti-abuse Tax (BEAT), and the Global Anti-base Erosion (GloBE) rules in the context of the OECD’s Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).
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Over the course of the last year, it has become clear that Democratic lawmakers want to change U.S. international tax rules. However, as proposals have been debated in recent months, there are clear divides between U.S. proposals and the global minimum tax rules.
5 min read
Leaders around the world are quickly moving to finalize an agreement on a global minimum tax in 2021, based on the so-called “Pillar Two” proposal from the OECD.
25 min read
The Biden administration’s international tax proposals would impose a 7.7 percent surtax on the foreign profits of U.S. multinationals, resulting in a net increase in profit shifting out of the U.S.
60 min read
The international corporate tax changes in President Biden’s tax plan would increase tax rates on domestic income more than on foreign income, resulting in a net increase in profit shifting out of the US, according to our Multinational Tax Model.
33 min read
Since only U.S. businesses pay the GILTI tax, not foreign businesses, it makes U.S.-based brands less competitive abroad. Whatever its intentions, GILTI is a flawed policy, and doubling down on it will hurt us abroad, and at home.
The Biden campaign and Senate Democrats identified changes to GILTI that would increase the taxes U.S. companies pay on their foreign earnings. Rather than tacking on changes to a system that is currently neither fully territorial nor worldwide, policymakers should evaluate the structure of the current system with a goal of it becoming more, not less, coherent.
51 min read
The continuation of this work is important, but the OECD and policymakers around the world should carefully consider whether these proposals will lead to more certainty, or if they will undermine that goal by simply be a step toward more unilateralism. The impact on cross-border investment will also be a critical issue to consider, and the ongoing impact assessment by the OECD is an important part of the work.
6 min read
Our International Index compares OECD countries on over 40 variables that measure how well each country’s tax system promotes sustainable economic growth and investment.
11 min read
Countries around the world often design their tax policies to become attractive targets for foreign investment. These policies can be anything from a system with special preferences for certain industries to a well-designed tax system based on principles of sound tax policy. Systems that are rife with special preferences and complexities can create distortions in local jurisdictions and across the global economy.
3 min read
The UK rules are designed to arrive at the most accurate definition of foreign income that should be taxed in the home country. These rules apply one of the most detailed approaches to solving the issue of taxing the right type and amount of foreign income. The method can be considered more effective, but the compliance implications and derived costs may be higher compared to those that are derived from the application of other methods.
7 min read
The tax treaties pending before the Senate present an opportunity to make the U.S. a more attractive place for companies from our treaty partner countries to invest and hire.
7 min read
The Dutch tax system is characterized by its simplicity and the attractiveness to investors. With the incorporation of CFC rules, the Dutch government protected its tax base from erosion and profit shifting. The Netherlands is facing a whole series of adjustments that would create a more complex system adapted to the international standards recommended by the OECD and adopted by the European Union Council. When revising the rules authorities must be mindful about not making the system more complex and to avoid increasing the compliance burden in the country.
5 min read
Japan is a country with a complex multilayer system to calculate the corporate income tax. As a consequence, the CFC income determination has evolved as a complex set of rules to complement the corporate income tax. It would be a great idea for the Japanese authorities to address a simplification of the rules to facilitate the entry of new capital investments into their economy.
7 min read
The United States was the first country to enact CFC rules, and it is probably the country with the most complex set of rules that will be presented in this blog series. The rules determine control using a combined ownership test: one for the corporation and the other at the shareholder level. The assessable income under the rules is generally passive income but the amount of foreign income subject to U.S. tax has expanded with the adoption of GILTI.
10 min read
As with every change in tax policy, there are trade-offs. The Modified Nexus Approach adds an additional layer of complexity to the already complex issue of taxing IP income. Linking tax breaks for IP income to its associated R&D activity has changed the game and will likely result in some businesses restructuring and relocating their IP assets and R&D activity. Effective tax rates on IP income will likely play an important role in determining optimal locations, giving measures such as R&D credits more importance. Whether this new approach to IP taxation will impact profit shifting and which countries will be the winners and losers is yet to be seen.
6 min read
From a broad standpoint, agreement at the OECD will require countries to give up some measure of their own tax sovereignty on policies they have designed to minimize the distortionary effects of the corporate income tax. Over the years tax competition has led to some countries adopting policies that are attractive to businesses because they have a more neutral rather than distortionary approach to taxing corporate income. This project could directly undermine that progress by introducing new levels of complexity and distortion that would ultimately have a negative impact on global trade and growth.
34 min read
Our paper undertakes a review of controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules around the world as a contribution to the global discussion over the possible expansion of existing anti-base erosion CFC regimes or the potential adoption of a minimum tax.
3 min read
Governments should recognize these trade-offs as they implement controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules or change their tax policies in ways that increase taxes on foreign subsidiaries.
7 min read
Taxes matter for decisions to be made by businesses, individuals, and families, and it is important for policymakers to understand that rules can be designed to be neutral rather than distortionary.
6 min read
The U.S. decision to adopt a territorial tax system is certainly an improvement over having a worldwide system. However, in moving to a territorial system some of the new features created with the TCJA increased the complexity of the system.
38 min read