A new report from Citizens for Tax Justice indicates 26 Fortune 500 companies such as Boeing, GE, Verizon and Duke Energy, paid no US federal income taxes in the last four years. While statistics like this will shock some, the biggest impact of this may be the push for tax reform.
At the beginning of this month, when Japanese reforms became effective, the US became the country with the world’s highest corporate tax rate. While some point to lower actual effective tax rates, for most this is the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Americans want the reform process to be sped up.
When undertaking a domestic transaction, all parties generally share the same principles regarding what needs to be done to close the deal. But this is not the case for cross-border transactions, where such harmony is often not achieved.
With an increasing interest in international tax norms and trying to apply best practices, there is increasing uncertainty for taxpayers and tax administrations. One result of all of this, coupled with the fact that authorities are aggressively chasing revenue to ease the effects of the financial crisis, is that countries are looking to expand the tax base.
Delegates at last week’s ABA/IFA/IBA 12th Annual Tax Planning Strategies conference in Vienna, Austria, heard how the UK’s reform of its controlled foreign company (CFC) legislation is finally close to being completed, and that the changes should be welcomed.
The Finnish government has announced new incentives targeted at stimulating economic growth, including a tax credit for companies related to the salaries of personnel involved in research and development (R&D).
