The U.S. International Tax Committee works on educational and advocacy efforts regarding the U.S. taxation of international business operations.
TEI Participates in OECD BEPS Public Consultations
On October 11-12, 2016, TEI Tax Counsel Ben Shreck participated in the OECD’s Public Consultations regarding revised OECD guidance on the use of the profit split method for transfer pricing purposes and the attribution of profits to permanent establishments under the OECD’s BEPS Project. TEI’s planned intervention at the Consultation addressed profit split factors. It is expected that the OECD will issue final guidance on these two topics by the end of 2016.
TEI Appointed as Member to the European Commission’s VAT Expert Group
On September 30, 2016, the European Commission reappointed TEI as a member of the VAT Expert Group for a three-year term. The VAT Expert Group was established in 2012 for the purpose of “advis[ing] the Commission on the preparation of legislative acts and other policy initiatives in the field of VAT” and “provid[ing] insight concerning the practical implementation of legislative acts and other EU policy initiatives in the field of VAT.” The VAT Expert Group’s next meeting will take place on October 17, 2016 in Brussels.
TEI Comments on § 385 Proposed Regulations Allowing IRS to Recharacterize Related-Party Debt to Equity
On July 6, 2016, TEI submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service regarding its proposed regulations for 26 U.S.C. § 385, which would give the IRS broad authority to recharacterize related-party debt to equity. We submitted these comments pursuant to the REG-108060-15 notice of proposed rulemaking. The comments discuss the negative macroeconomic effects the proposed regulations could have, the technical tax complexities they would create for corporate taxpayers, and suggested changes Treasury and IRS should make to the proposed regulations before finalizing them.
TEI Comments on Proposed Country-by-Country Reporting Regulations
On March 21, 2016, TEI submitted comments to the IRS regarding proposed regulations (REG-109822-15) that would require certain U.S. headquartered multinational enterprises to report financial and tax information to the IRS on a country-by-country basis. The Institute's comments focused on the need for the final regulations to be consistent with the final report on Action 13 of the OECD's base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project to minimize the administrative burden on businesses and permit flexibility in information reporting.
TEI Comments on Revisions to Competent Authority Revenue Procedure
On March 10, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the IRS regarding Notice 2013-78, which proposes substantial revisions to Revenue Procedure 2006-54 for requesting assistance from the U.S. competent authority under U.S. tax treaties. TEI’s comments focused on, among other things, the ability of the U.S. competent authority to expand the scope of mutual agreement procedure requests, the interaction between the U.S. competent authority and IRS exam and appeals, and the impact of the proposed revenue procedure on the compulsory payment rule for claiming a foreign tax credit.
TEI Comments on Revisions to APA Revenue Procedure
On March 10, 2014, TEI submitted comments to the IRS regarding Notice 2013-79, which proposes substantial revisions to Revenue Procedure 2006-9 for requesting advanced pricing agreements (APA) from the IRS. TEI’s comments focused on, among other things, the volume of information required to be submitted to the IRS under the proposed procedure, the pre-filing process, and Institute concerns with the authority of the IRS’s advanced pricing and mutual agreement program to expand the scope of an APA request.
U.S. INTERNATIONAL
The U.S. International Tax Committee works on educational and advocacy efforts regarding the U.S. taxation of international business operations.