European Direct Tax

On January 8, 2015, TEI submitted comments to the OECD regarding its BEPS Public Discussion Draft on Follow Up Work on BEPS Action 6: Preventing Treaty Abuse. TEI’s comments reiterated key recommendations from the Institute’s April 2014 on the same subject.

On January 13, 2015, TEI submitted comments to the OECD on its Public Discussion Draft regarding BEPS Action 10: Proposed Modifications to Chapter VII of the Transfer Pricing Guidelines Relating to Low Value-Adding Intra-Group Services. TEI commended the OECD for its approach in the Discussion Draft as a welcome simplification to transfer pricing rules for intra-group services.

On December 23, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the OECD regarding its Public Discussion Draft on BEPS Action 7: Preventing the Artificial Avoidance of PE Status. TEI's comments focused on the need for any changes to the definition of a permanent establishment in the OECD Model Tax Convention to be clear so that taxpayers and tax authorities may apply the new definition with certainty and avoid unintended tax consequences and controversy.

On September 17, 2014, TEI responded to the OECD’s request for input under Action 11 of its base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project, Establish methodologies to collect and analyse data on BEPS and the actions to address it. TEI recommended that the OECD clearly define what is meant by BEPS and BEPS behaviors, measure whether the actions taken pursuant to the OECD’s BEPS Action Plan lead to double taxation, and safeguard the confidentiality of taxpayer information and data used in the project, among other things.

On July 21, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the government of Ireland regarding its public consultation document OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project in an Irish Context. TEI’s comments focused on the need for certainty should the Irish government change its corporate tax regime in conjunction with OECD’s BEPS project.

On May 1, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the OECD regarding its Public Discussion Drafts on BEPS Action 2: Neutralise the Effects of Hybrid Mismatch Arrangements (Recommendations for Domestic Laws and Treaty Issues). TEI’s comments focused on the need for the OECD to specifically delineate the instruments and transactions that would be subject to the proposed, the proposed rules intended effect, and to coordinate the rules’ implementation across jurisdictions to prevent double-taxation from arising. 

On April 13, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the OECD regarding its Public Discussion Draft on BEPS Action 1:  Address the Tax Challenges of the Digital Economy. The Institute agreed with the OECD that there was no need to “ring fence” the digital economy through the adoption of special or separate international tax rules, and that any such attempt would be inadvisable.

On April 8, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the OECD regarding its Public Discussion Draft on BEPS Action 6: Preventing the Granting of Treaty Benefits in Inappropriate Circumstances. The Institute’s comments generally focused on the need for objective rules if the OECD is to combat inappropriate “treaty shopping.” TEI recommended that such rules should be in the form of clearly defined “limitation-on-benefits” provisions in the OECD’s Model Tax Convention, and not in the form of a general anti-abuse rule.

On March 7, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the United Nations regarding the United Nations Practical Manual on Transfer Pricing for Developing Countries.

On February 22, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the OECD recommending substantial changes to the OECD’s revisions to Chapter V of its Transfer Pricing Guidelines included in its Discussion Draft on Transfer Pricing Documentation and CbC Reporting. TEI’s recommendations included, among other things, delaying and substantially revising the proposed Country-by-Country reporting template, balancing tax authorities need for information against the compliance burden on taxpayers, and keeping taxpayer information confidential.