Category: Earnings stripping

US set to lose $12bn in tax take by 2027 if multinationals relocate overseas

Tax inversions by US multinationals attempting to shift profits into lower tax jurisdictions could cost the US up to $12bn (£7.4bn) in lost corporate tax revenues by 2027, according to figures released by the US Congressional Budget Office There were 11 major corporate inversions from 2014-2015, although two significant inversions… – Continue reading

US Think Tank Says Earning Stripping Regs Should Be Retained

Contrary to calls from businesses from the regulation’s withdrawal, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy has called on the US Treasury to fully implement and strengthen its final Section 385 anti-earnings stripping debt-equity regulations, designed to reduce the benefits of corporate tax inversions. The final regulations, released in October… – Continue reading

US government delays Obama earnings-stripping rule deadline

The change converts tax-deductible interest payments employed by the schemes into taxable stock dividends. The U.S. government on Friday gave companies an extra year to comply with an Obama-era regulation meant to crack down on corporations that try to minimize their U.S. tax bills by shifting profits abroad to countries… – Continue reading

Tax Rule Aimed at Corporate ‘Earnings Stripping’ Under Review

Obama-administration regulation drew criticism as overbroad Trump ordered review of tax rules that may pose undue burdens A federal rule aimed at limiting corporate “earnings stripping’’ for tax-avoidance purposes may pose an undue burden on taxpayers and may be changed or rescinded, according to a U.S. Internal Revenue Service notice…. – Continue reading

How to Shut Down Offshore Corporate Tax Avoidance, Full Stop

A new bill introduced this week by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), the Tax Fairness and Transparency Act, would rip out the offshore corporate tax avoidance system by its roots. This legislation combines into a single, comprehensive bill elements of three pieces of legislation that Rep. Pocan has proposed in previous… – Continue reading

BEPS – Germany on the way to limit the tax deductibility of royalties

A new legislative approach of the German tax authorities leaked last December 19 will have a significant impact on the tax deductibility of royalties owed to related persons being subject to a preferential back end tax regime for IP not being in compliance with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and… – Continue reading

Trump’s Corporate Tax Reforms: What CFOs Need to Know

While Trump wants to close loopholes, many of them stem from public policy concerns — not “special interests.” After a dramatic upset victory in one of the most bitterly contested presidential races in recent history, Donald Trump now has some serious work to do. His corporate tax policies—which are vital… – Continue reading

Multinationals Dodged Bullet on ‘Earnings Stripping’ Rules

Many kinds of U.S. multinational companies, including S-corporations, REITS, and financial services companies apparently dodged a bullet last month when the U.S. Treasury Dept. issued its final, substantially revised rules aimed at curtailing “earnings stripping.” The revised regulation represents an attempt by Treasury to help “narrow the rule and avoid… – Continue reading

IRS inversion rules face blowback

A regulatory effort by the Obama administration to crack down on tax deals is facing backlash from business groups and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules were intended to combat inversions — transactions in which a U.S. company combines with a foreign… – Continue reading

Dodging tax is not just about offshore havens

The release of the so-called Panama Papers has shone a light on the secretive world of offshore tax havens and shown the exhaustive lengths that companies and wealthy individuals will go to in an effort to avoid paying tax. The trove of documents leaked from the Panama-based law firm Mossack… – Continue reading

Barack Obama: Tax avoidance is a big global problem

US President Barack Obama has warned that “tax avoidance is a big global problem” and urged Congress to take action to eliminate tax loopholes. “A lot of it is legal, but that’s exactly the problem,” he said. His comments come a day after the US Treasury Department announced fresh plans… – Continue reading

How Treasury Could Take Action to Prevent Inversions

Even as more large companies announce plans to take advantage of the inversion loophole to avoid taxes, Congress has refused to move on commonsense legislation that would put an end to inversions. Fortunately, as outlined in a new letter signed by Citizens for Tax Justice and 54 other groups, there… – Continue reading

US Democrat Bill Takes Further Aim At Inversions

On February 23, US House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin (D – Michigan) and Budget Committee Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen (D – Maryland) introduced legislation aimed at reducing the number of corporate tax inversions by limiting the use of “earnings stripping.” Tax inversion techniques… – Continue reading

Big corporations will always cheat (yep, I said cheat) on their taxes. Here’s how to deal with it

Let me give you a heads up: First, I’m going to tell you some things that will make you ill. Then I’m going to present a cure. It will make you feel better—until, of course, you realize that knowing the cure brings us as close to implementing it as buying an… – Continue reading

Icahn Says Stop Corporate Inversions By Giving Tax Break

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has a strong opinion on almost every subject, especially politics. He’s also quite happy to share that opinion with anyone who will listen to or read what he has to say. Icahn’s comments this week on how to stop future tax-motivated corporate inversions such as the… – Continue reading

What CFOs Need to Know About BEPS

The Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project is an initiative being pursued by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to curtail perceived exploitation of international tax rules and loopholes by multinational enterprises (MNEs). The OECD’s BEPS project was initiated in 2013 at the request of the Group… – Continue reading

United States: Treasury And IRS Issue Additional Anti-Inversion Notice

The Treasury Department and the IRS released Notice 2015-79 (the “2015 Notice”) on November 19th to further limit expatriation transactions and to supplement the anti-inversion guidance issued by them on September 22, 2014 (the “2014 Notice”). The 2015 Notice states that Treasury and the IRS will issue Treasury regulations to… – Continue reading

Previewing US Tax Reform

The latest Tax Reform Business Barometer survey, issued by The Tax Council and Ernst & Young, found that tax professionals expect Congress to approve tax reform legislation no earlier than 2017, with most congressional leaders having all but given up hope that tax reform is achievable in the remainder of… – Continue reading

KPMG REPORT: INITIAL IMPRESSIONS OF NOTICE 2015-79 ON INVERSIONS

Notice 2015-79—released November 19, 2015, by the Treasury Department and IRS—announces their intention to issue regulations relating to inversion transactions and post-inversion restructuring transactions. Notice 2015-79 provides for rules that: Limit the ability of domestic companies to effect an inversion Limit the advantages of certain post-inversion restructuring transactions Clarify certain… – Continue reading

Treasury Department Plans Anti-Inversion Tax Rules This Week

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Treasury Department will release new “targeted guidance” this week designed to reduce the tax benefits available to U.S. companies that move their tax addresses overseas. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew informed lawmakers of the coming announcement in a letter on Wednesday, which provided no details on its intentions. The… – Continue reading

Pfizer-Allergan Deal Refocuses Market on US Tax-inversion Rules

Pfizer Inc.’s buyout bid for Allergan Plc has financial markets on edge over a possible new move by the U.S. Treasury Department against tax-inversion deals, but the outlook for any such steps was still unclear. For months, Treasury has offered no fresh guidance on the inversion issue, leaving tax experts… – Continue reading

Congressman Introduces Bills to Curb Corporate Tax Inversions and Deferrals

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., has introduced two pieces of legislation to combat corporate tax inversions and tax deferral. The Corporate Fair Share Tax Act and the Putting America First Corporate Act would prevent corporations from using “tax inversions” to reduce a company’s U.S. tax burden and hide profits overseas. Corporate… – Continue reading

Democrat targets corporate tax-avoidance deals in U.S. Congress

Tax-driven “inversion” deals that let companies flee the U.S. tax system by relocating abroad, if only on paper, would be curbed under legislation introduced in Congress, as Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) pursues such a deal with rival Allergan Plc (AGN.N). Wisconsin Democratic Representative Mark Pocan’s bills likely have little chance of… – Continue reading

How to Curtail Offshore Tax Avoidance

In a time of fiscal austerity, it is breathtaking to learn that Congress has allowed Fortune 500 companies to avoid an estimated $620 billion in federal taxes on earnings they are holding offshore. While the inaction by lawmakers on this issue may create the impression that there is nothing to… – Continue reading

The Self-Defeating Corporate Income Tax

For many years, policy makers have criticized the strategies that American corporations use to reduce their taxes by shifting income and capital offshore. The impetus behind these strategies is the U.S. corporate income-tax rate — at 35 percent, the highest of any industrialized nation, easily surpassing countries such as the… – Continue reading

Dutch Tax Bill 2016: what will change?

The Dutch government presented its Tax Bill 2016 on 15 September 2016. Three elements of this bill could specifically affect multinationals, international investors and investment funds with Dutch headquarters or group companies: The anti-avoidance rules in respect of non-resident taxation of foreign corporate shareholders and the dividend withholding tax treatment… – Continue reading

Canada: International Tax Reform 2015-BEPS Final Reports

On October 5, 2015, the OECD released its final reports relating to the OECD/G20 base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project (the Final Reports). The BEPS project began in 2013 and has received unprecedented attention from governments and the private sector. The Final Reports outline the OECD’s recommendations and the… – Continue reading

Democrats Urge US Treasury Action On Inversions

Seven leading Democrat lawmakers wrote a letter on September 12 to US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urging him to publish an annual list of companies that have undertaken corporate tax inversions, and to use the Administration’s executive authority further to discourage the use of inversion techniques. Tax inversion techniques are… – Continue reading

Treasury prods firms to fight tax provision

The Treasury Department has pushed American-based corporations to lobby against a tax provision prized by their foreign counterparts, according to people who have heard the pitch. One senior Treasury official in particular, Danielle Rolfes, urged domestic companies to more aggressively target an incentive for interest expensing during a March tax… – Continue reading

Tax Savings Drove Valeant, Burger King Deals, Senate Report Says

Tax savings drove the acquisition strategy of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and led to Burger King’s move to Canada, according to a U.S. Senate committee report. Taxes appear to be much more important to the deals than the companies say, according to an advance copy of the report and testimony… – Continue reading

Canada: Interest Deductibility In Canada: What’s The Fuss?

This article deals with the manner in which Canada has complicated, and rendered controversial, what in most other countries is straightforward — the deductibility of business related interest expense. The reasons to write about it are threefold: the almost-concurrent issuance of the Canada Revenue Agency’s administrative views on the matter… – Continue reading

The intersection of US tax treaty policy, tax reform and BEPS

Introduction US tax treaty policy can be affected by pressures for tax reform from within the United States and by major developments in international taxation from without. Talk of US tax reform has been widespread for years, although it is sometimes hard to gauge how much of the talk is… – Continue reading

Inversion Deals Aren’t Dead; They Are Just On A Smaller Scale Now

Last September, the US Treasury Department announced new tax rules designed to crack down on the rising trend of “tax-inversion” deals in the pharmaceutical industry, as an increasing number of US firms had begun to pursue overseas acquisitions in attempts to relocate their legal addresses to non-US based headquarters to… – Continue reading

Studies show, Congress Favors the Rich

When Hillary Clinton recently borrowed Elizabeth Warren’s talking points and claimed “the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top” (in our economic and political system) against regular working people, did she mention reforming the tax code — and then offer any solutions? The simple answer is… – Continue reading

PICKING UP THE TAB 2015: SMALL BUSINESSES PAY THE PRICE FOR OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS

Every year, corporations and wealthy individuals use complicated gimmicks to shift U.S. earnings to subsidiaries in offshore tax havens – countries with minimal or no taxes – in order to reduce their federal and state income tax liabilities by billions of dollars. While tax haven abusers benefit from America’s markets,… – Continue reading

U.S. companies may not be fleeing due to high tax rate, Reuters analysis shows

(Reuters) – When a series of big U.S. companies last year moved to reincorporate abroad in inversion deals, some Republican lawmakers and tax policy critics blamed the high U.S. corporate tax rate. Lowering it, they said, would keep companies from fleeing the country. But a Reuters analysis of the taxes… – Continue reading

How an Obscure Tax Loophole Brought Down Obama’s Treasury Nominee

(Bloomberg) -– So how did the previously obscure term tax inversions become part of Washington parlance, fodder for the next presidential campaign and the issue that helped derail a U.S. Treasury nominee? Thank, or blame, depending on your perspective, cutting-edge tax lawyers, populist Democrats, a banana seller, a drugmaker, a… – Continue reading

Financial Group Wants More Limits on Corporate Inversions

The FACT (Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency) Coalition today submitted comments to the Treasury Department praising their previous actions to limit inversions while also calling for additional measures. The proposals come as a part of the open comment period for Notice 2014-52, Rules Regarding Inversions and Related Transactions, originally issued… – Continue reading

Sebi says MF schemes with bonus option ‘not legitimate’

MUMBAI: The capital market regulator has plugged the loophole that allowed savvy mutual fund investors to lower tax by bonus stripping. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has spelt out that it’s not in favour of fund houses launching new schemes with bonus option in their arbitrage funds…. – Continue reading

Maine’s largest landowner, billionaire media magnate avoids millions in taxes with inversion deal

NEW YORK — Shifting the address of his Liberty Global Inc. from Colorado to London last year didn’t just put billionaire John C. Malone in a position to reduce his company’s tax bill. He also took precautions to avoid the capital-gains hit that the so-called inversion would trigger for him… – Continue reading