This weekend, the Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers completed a “historic global tax agreement,” a “seismic” and “landmark deal,” that will create an international tax system “fit for the 21st century.” Or so, at least, is the narrative presented by some of the G7 folk (most prominently UK chancellor Rishi Sunak), which has been…
In the wake of the global financial crisis of 2007-08, tax havens became a hot topic as political leaders zeroed in on exotic, low-tax jurisdictions as sources of fiscal instability that exacerbated the crisis. With the Covid-19 pandemic, tax havens have been even more immediately and strongly linked to the crisis and the prospects for…
Hour for hour, day for day, the world is changing due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19). Every area of social action is affected by the increasing restrictions being placed on citizens around the world through isolation and quarantines, posing profound problems for economies and policy-makers. Global negotiations over a new resolution to…
The global fight over how—and where—to tax the new digital economy is raging on. Just last week, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) published the conclusions from its investigation into France’s new tax on large tech companies, such as Apple, Facebook, and Google. The USTR found that the French tax discriminates against US companies, and…
Trump’s new investigation is only the latest skirmish in this new divide. Last week, President Trump ordered an investigation into France’s new tax on Apple, Facebook, Google and other large digital companies. The administration is considering strong retaliatory measures, on the grounds that it unfairly targets U.S. companies. This is the latest stage in a long-running…
