OECD

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 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.

On October 16, 2013, TEI submitted a second letter to the OECD commenting on the OECD’s Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.  TEI’s comments addressed issues under the 15 individual items of the Action Plan, including transfer pricing aspects of intangible assets, changes to the OECD model treaty, and improvements to the mutual agreement procedure. 

On September 30, 2013, TEI submitted a letter to the OECD commenting on its White Paper on Transfer Pricing Documentation. TEI’s comments focused on the need to reduce the transfer pricing documentation and compliance burden on taxpayers by standardizing requests for such documentation across tax authorities.

The comments were prepared under the aegis of TEI’s European Direct Tax Committee, whose chair is Alexander Kölbl of General Dynamics. Benjamin R. Shreck, TEI Tax Counsel, coordinated the preparation of TEI’s letter.

On September 18, 2013, TEI submitted a letter to the OECD commenting on its Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. TEI's comments focused on the general principles of the current international tax system and the need for the OECD maintain those principles as it advances its Action Plan to combat perceived base erosion and profit shifting by multi-national enterprises.

On May 10, 2013, TEI submitted the following comments to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development on the Draft Consolidated Version of the International VAT/GST Guidelines. These comments follow letters submitted by TEI on previously released VAT/GST guidelines and related commentary filed on March 31, 2010 and September 26, 2012. The Institute's letter praised the work of the OECD and urged clarification on rules applicable to determining the place of supply for cross-border sales of services and intangibles.