The Australian government has released a discussion paper regarding its proposed move to force the largest 2,000 companies to disclose more tax information, an initiative which represents a significant shift away from the view that corporate tax return details are confidential.
Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP) has analysed the number of mentions of the word “tax” in FTSE 100 companies’ 2010/11 annual reports, finding a substantial increase compared with 2005/6.
Last week’s publication of Finance Bill 2013 confirmed the UK is to introduce a General Anti-Abuse Rule (GAAR) later this year. But there is no consensus that the proposed measure is necessary or that it will be effective. One criticism is that legislators have not taken on board the lessons learnt in other jurisdictions such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.
The OECD has urged France to implement reforms of its tax and transfer pricing system to improve the competitiveness of the nation’s companies, describing such action as “essential”.
One year after Japan cut its corporate tax rate and left the US with the highest rate in the developed world, the RATE Coalition of businesses has written a letter to Congress reinforcing the corporate call for action to reduce the 35% rate.
George Osborne, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, has delivered the 2013 budget, confirming a one percentage point cut in the corporate tax rate to 20% by April 2015, and claiming the government is building "the most competitive tax system in the world". But there was bad news for banks.
