Yesterday the OECD secretariat published its proposed ‘unified approach’ to update corporate tax rules for the digital era, or at least for one of the project’s two pillars. The proposal is designed to be “the basis for a negotiation that could result in a political agreement by mid-2020.” This agreement is to be made via…
There is a growing interest in the role that double tax agreements play in eroding societies’ tax bases. While long considered a technocratic area that generally aims to prevent double taxation, states have become increasingly aware that applying solid tax treaties is of extreme importance to prevent tax avoidance. Over the last few years countries…
Intangible assets are more valuable than ever before. The Global Intangible Finance Tracker found that 52% of the overall enterprise value of all publicly traded companies worldwide resides in intangibles, with a total worth of US$57.3 trillion. In some sectors like cosmetics, internet and software, media, and drinks, intangibles account for 80-90% of enterprise value….
Nigeria’s dependence on oil Nigeria relies more on oil than it does on direct taxes or any other forms of revenue to run its economy. Since discovering oil in 1956, Nigeria has become heavily reliant on oil revenue for survival – in the boom period preceding the 2014 oil price plummet (2010 – 2013), the…
When the OECD’s ‘Inclusive Framework’ invited public input on the possible solutions to the tax challenges of digitalization in February 2019, there was some enthusiasm that the renewed effort would address the overall imbalance in the allocation of taxing rights. The hard and soft law of international tax rules prevents countries taxing multinational enterprises (MNEs)…
Africa has an important role to play in current plans to reform international tax rules in response to the challenges of the digital economy. Of 132 members of the OECD/G20 ‘Inclusive Framework on BEPS’ (IF), which is leading this work, 24 are African; its steering group has a Nigerian deputy chair, and members from Cote…
The difficulties of taxing digital TNCs Taxing Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) that do business through digital platforms is a complex issue for governments. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has been examining the tax challenges of digitalisation of the economy under Action 1 of a global project named Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)….
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…
Tobacco companies are zeroing in on one of the last global markets still ripe for exploitation: the African continent. Much of the tobacco leaf and some of the manufactured cigarettes produced on the continent are exported. These exports earn the foreign currency that’s attractive to the finance ministries of tobacco producing countries. But increasing amounts…
British civil servants sign up to core values enshrined in the Civil Service Code: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. Implicit in these is evidence-based practice, which in turn suggests the need for a steady flow of relevant research. Although I have been reading research during many years working in DFID, it was only when I…
This blog was jointly authored by Wilson Prichard (ICTD), Nora Lustig (CEQ), Sanjeev Gupta (CGD), Warren Krafchik (IBP), Ian Gary (Oxfam), and Brahima Coulibaly (Brookings). See their biographies on the right. This week over 170 policymakers, government officials, and members of academia, civil society and international organisations will gather in Berlin to discuss the future…
With the plastic waste crisis gaining increasing attention, both developed and developing countries are under pressure to find solutions. Bans of single-use plastics have not succeeded in many cases. Could taxing plastic production be the answer? India’s plastic problem India generates over 25,000 tonnes of plastic every day, 40% of which is neither collected nor…
