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).
International Tax Rules Primer U.S. Tax Competitiveness Primer GILTI Primer FDII Primer Learn more with TaxEDU
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.
28 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
Since 1980, the worldwide average statutory corporate tax rate has consistently decreased as countries have realized the negative impact that corporate taxes have on business investment decisions.
10 min read
The structure of a country’s tax code is an important determinant of its economic performance. Our 2018 international tax rankings provide a road map for each of the 35 OECD countries to improve the structure of their tax codes and achieve a more neutral, more competitive tax system.
11 min read
Before accounting for state and local sales taxes, the tax burden that a single average wage earner faces in the U.S. is 31.7 percent of pretax earnings, amounting to $18,198 in taxes in 2017.
18 min read
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) praised a measure in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed last December.
2 min read
Taxes matter to investment decisions. Global tax collectors must weigh the marginal benefit of additional revenues against the economic harm high business taxes could cause.
19 min read
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act moved the U.S. toward more of a territorial corporate tax system used by most other OECD countries. However, the U.S. law contains key differences in the treatment of foreign profits.
24 min read