The new OECD global minimum tax rules are complex, and some countries may opt to put them in place on top of preexisting rules for taxing multinational companies. However, countries should also consider ways to reform their existing rules in response to the minimum tax.
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According to the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Switzerland has the best-structured consumption tax among OECD countries while Poland has the worst-structured consumption tax code.
2 min read
Michael J. Graetz is the Columbia Alumni Professor of Tax Law and a leading expert on national and international tax law.
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According to the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Switzerland has the best-structured consumption tax among OECD countries while Poland has the worst-structured consumption tax code.
2 min read
Despite ongoing multilateral negotiations in the OECD, about half of all European OECD countries have either announced, proposed, or implemented their own unilateral digital services tax.
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France’s individual income tax system is the least competitive of all OECD countries. It takes French businesses on average 80 hours annually to comply with the income tax.
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According to the corporate tax component of the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Latvia and Estonia have the best corporate tax systems in the OECD.
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The legislation put forward by Democratic members of the House of Representatives would reverse many of the 2017 reforms while increasing burdens on businesses and workers.
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In the past three years, eight European OECD countries changed their top personal income tax rate, of which four of them cut their top personal income tax rates.
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Tax competition has proven to be key in keeping tax hikes under control in some regions of Spain as regional governments look to copy Madrid’s tax reforms.
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In general, the effective tax rates on the foreign profits of U.S. multinationals are not that low relative to the U.S. tax rate, contrary to popular rhetoric.
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Rather than pursuing policies that have demonstrably reduced R&D and innovation elsewhere, and that would disincentivize R&D in the U.S., lawmakers should continue to ensure an ecosystem that encourages risk-taking and R&D.
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Patent box regimes (also referred to as intellectual property, or IP, regimes) provide lower effective tax rates on income derived from IP. Most commonly, eligible types of IP are patents and software copyrights. Currently, 14 of the 27 EU member states have a patent box regime.
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As Congress prepares to rewrite some portion of the current international tax rules, it’s hoped that they are able to achieve a more principled approach and one that is not so subject to obfuscation and misinterpretation.
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Ireland and France levy the highest excise duties on cigarettes in the EU, at €8.42 ($9.60) and €6.61 ($7.53) per 20-cigarette pack, respectively. This compares to an EU average of €3.34 ($3.80). Bulgaria (€1.81 or $2.06) and Poland (€2.08 or $2.37) levy the lowest excise duties.
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The highest excise duties are applied in Finland, Sweden, and Ireland, where the rates for a standard-size bottle of liquor are €14.10 ($16.08), €13.80 ($15.73), and €11.92 ($13.59), respectively.
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There are many ways the U.S.’s international tax rules could be changed, reformed, improved, or worsened. Reflexively jacking up taxes on U.S. multinationals does not necessarily accomplish the goal of reducing or eliminating profit shifting, and it would in fact worsen it.
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