International Tax

The OECD’s Inclusive Framework is currently considering two substantial tax reform plans, Pillar One and Pillar Two. These are intended to develop a global consensus on methods for taxing the digitalised economy, but in their current form would have broad implications for international tax architecture in general, and particularly for the control of base erosion…

African economies need adequate revenues for development, but weak tax laws, illicit financial flows and aggressive tax planning have made it difficult for them to attain their full potential in raising revenue. Furthermore, the advent of digitalised business models, although with considerable potential to improve trade in Africa, has greatly exacerbated the two central challenges…

This paper considers whether the ‘Amount B’ proposal currently being negotiated in the Inclusive Framework, for the attribution of fixed remuneration for the ‘routine’ distribution and marketing activities of MNE affiliates, may offer a useful template for the re-working of the widely used ‘transactional net margin’ transfer pricing method (TNMM). The TNMM has for years…

This FACTI Background Paper considers six sets of international tax norms: tax treaties (often known as double taxation agreements), transfer pricing rules, mutual assistance agreements between states, state-state and investor-state tax dispute resolution mechanisms, coercive mechanisms that oblige states to adopt international tax norms or face sanctions from powerful states, and finally the embryonic framework…

This briefing aims to explain the ‘offshore’ system which enables both evasion and avoidance of tax, as well as of other types of laws and regulations, and discusses countermeasures. All illicit cross-border financial flows exploit the offshore system, so understanding how it works is the key to ensuring effective and coherent countermeasures, in relation to…

This paper considers whether the ‘Amount B’ proposal currently being negotiated in the Inclusive Framework, for the attribution of fixed remuneration for the ‘routine’ distribution and marketing activities of MNE affiliates, may offer a useful template for the re-working of the widely used ‘transactional net margin’ transfer pricing method (TNMM). The TNMM has for years…

Tax treaties are agreements through which two countries agree to assign and restrict taxing rights on economic activities that span both countries. They were traditionally concluded mainly to avoid double taxation and create a favourable investment climate. However, in recent years, tax treaties concluded by sub-Saharan African countries – with OECD countries in particular –…

The advent of digitalised business models has considerable potential to improve trade in Africa, however, it has greatly exacerbated the two central challenges of international tax. The first challenge is the definition of taxable presence, and the second is the allocation of business profits of multinational enterprises (MNEs) among the different jurisdictions where they operate….

The rapid growth of the digital economy in many African countries poses serious challenges to traditional tax regimes. Revenue authorities must protect their revenue base without hindering the development and use of new technologies or the business community’s involvement in the e-marketplace. Two international taxation rules pose a challenge to taxing the global digital economy….

We could be in the midst of the biggest change to the way multinational companies are taxed in decades. In January 2019, over 130 developed and developing countries committed to ‘go beyond’ some of the fundamental principles that have underpinned cooperation on corporate taxation for a century (OECD 2019a). They opened negotiations to redistribute ‘taxing…