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Bloomberg Tax •

Tax Inspectors Without Borders to Fuel Industry-Specific Audits

Tax Inspectors Without Borders, which provides developing countries’ tax agencies with no-cost support for audits and investigations, is shifting gears to help nations focus on specific industries as they fight tax evasion done through complex transfer pricing arrangements.Since its launch in 2015, TIWB has helped tax administrations across 70 developing countries gain an additional $2.4 billion in tax revenue and $6.39 billion in tax assessments, and has disallowed $2.5 billion in losses that t...
Bloomberg Tax •

Simplification Is Primary Aim in Work on EU Tax Cooperation Law

The European Union will prioritize simplification in its work on the Directive for Administrative Cooperation, or DAC, which allows EU tax administrations to share data.DAC is one of the bloc’s flagship tax laws, and the European Commission is still considering what areas to include in DAC10, which is meant to revise previous versions of the rules dating back to 2011. “Let’s be clear about that. Simplification is the lead word for the time,” said Henrik Paulander, head of sector administrative c...
Bloomberg Tax •

EU Must Learn From US’ Global Tax Deal Reversal, Tax Pros Say

The global minimum tax might best be viewed as an “experiment” in international tax policy, and the EU should consider following the US in walking back its adoption, according to several tax professionals.When the staunchest advocates of proposals like the minimum tax, such the US, turn their back on them, they might no longer be worthwhile, the professionals said during an EU advisory panel hearing Wednesday.“It’s not the first time the US is promoting a big tax reform or changes of internation...
Bloomberg Tax •

OECD Confirms Countries With Qualified Minimum Tax Rules (1)

The OECD on Wednesday provided an update with a list of countries that have implemented minimum tax legislation that meets the secured transitional qualified status. The administrative guidance will be regularly updated to include additional minimum tax legislation as jurisdictions complete the fast-track process, according to the OECD.The minimum tax legislation refers to domestic laws that meet Global anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) rules, whose goal is to ensure multinationals pay a minimum 15% tax...
Bloomberg Tax •

Multinationals Shift Key Functions Based on Taxes, OECD Finds

Multinational enterprises tend to move finance-related functions to jurisdictions with lower effective tax rates, while manufacturing and sales functions are less sensitive to higher tax rates, according to a new report. Affiliates of companies located in countries with ETRs below 15% were also more likely to conduct holding functions, or to provide internal group finance, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found in a new report based on anonymized real responses of large...
Bloomberg Tax •

Small Business Tax Compliance a Challenge, UK Official Says

Small businesses that don’t comply with tax laws are more difficult to track down than major corporations who don’t comply, Jim Harra, chief executive at the UK tax office, said Monday.His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs can broadly estimate tax non-compliance, but it is difficult to track exactly how and when small businesses don’t comply, Harra said at a Public Accounts Committee hearing on tax fraud in the retail sector.“We can estimate it. But of course, what the tax gap doesn’t do is tell us...
Bloomberg Tax •

Platform Reporting Rules Are Boosting VAT Compliance, HMRC Says

New rules requiring UK online marketplaces to share more data about sellers have led to a “significant increase in VAT compliance,” according to the chief of the country’s tax office.“What we’ve seen as a result of the introduction of these online marketplace rules is a significant reduction in the non-compliance and a significant increase in VAT compliance,” Jim Harra, chief executive at His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, told a Parliament committee Wednesday. Still, he said that it’s “not perf...
Bloomberg Tax •

France Approves 'Soda Tax' Amendment in Budget Debate (1)

French lawmakers approved Monday amendments to a so-called “soda tax” aimed at reducing the amount of added sugars in drinks as part of the debate on a portion of the French budget. The amended tax would be broken into three groups, rather than the 16 that currently exist in French law. Beverages with zero to five kilograms of added sugars per 100 liters would not face any new tax. But beverages with five to eight kilograms of added sugars would be taxed 21 euro cents (23 US cents) per liter, an...
Bloomberg Tax •

French Landlords Want Tax Status Unique From Airbnbs in Budget

France’s real estate rental landlords that provide student housing and corporate apartments shouldn’t be lumped in with casual rentals such as Airbnbs for tax purposes, industry leaders said.They called on French lawmakers to reconsider ending a capital gains provision as proposed in the government’s 2025 budget.Michel Barnier, the hand-picked prime minster of President Emmanuel Macron, released the draft budget late Oct. 10. It aims to reduce the national deficit through a series of tax hikes o...
Bloomberg Tax •

UK Access to Good Wine at Risk as Post-Brexit Taxes Rile Buyers

Thousands of flames flickered in pre-dawn vineyards across the Burgundy region of France in early May, pots of paraffin warming the air to protect delicate buds from an unseasonably late frost.Extreme weather can destroy much of a crop, dramatically impacting surviving grapes that produce a wine that could carry a slightly different alcohol content from last year’s vintage. And bottle by bottle, that can vary depending on how long the wine is aged in a barrel.“Wine is an agricultural product,” n...
Bloomberg Tax •

Europe’s Art Industry Turns to Lobbying as EU Tax Change Looms

As the owner of two galleries in Paris and another in Brussels, Nathalie Obadia’s goal is to not only follow the latest trends in art, it’s also to set the agenda. “It’s influencing the influencers, the tastemakers,” Obadia said about her work running the galleries that bear her name.Obadia, a graduate of the elite Sciences Po and author of “Géopolitique de l’art contemporain” (The Geopolitics of Contemporary Art), also wields her influence in another way—as a member of the French art gallery as...
Bloomberg Tax •

French Family Vineyards Imperiled by Historic Inheritance Taxes

As a little girl helping her parents and grandparents in the rolling vineyards of northeast France, Sophie Moussié declared that she would one day run the family business. These days, three young boys tag along as Sophie works the same rich soil. And the legacy vines that cling to the hillsides belong to her. Moussié, 35, is newly head of the champagne house Guy Méa. Her maternal grandfather, for whom the winery is named, passed away last year and her parents decided to retire. So Sophie became...
Bloomberg Tax •

Taxes Make Digital Nomad Status a 'Myth' for Most Workers, Firms

Slack from Sicily. App development in Abu Dhabi. Time sheets from Thailand.Work-from-anywhere policies and digital nomad visas have created a wealth of opportunities for remote work and shifted immigration and mobility choices from the employer to employee.But as countries promote their digital nomad visas—28 and counting, according to the OECD—the tax rules have not always caught up, leaving employers, employees, and independent contractors to determine their tax liability.“You have all these b...
Bloomberg Tax •

Crypto Miners in Canada, US Want Greater Tax Status Clarity

Crypto miners flocking to the US and Canada, lured by their stable business environments and low energy costs, cite a growing concern—the lack of clear tax policies governing their operations.Mining companies currently have to interpret existing tax laws to guess at how their revenue should be apportioned and how to treat buildings and equipment, for example. They are navigating tax incentives and credits at the local, regional and country levels, including about energy, and the taxation of thei...
Bloomberg Tax •

Small Business Tax Compliance a Challenge, UK Official Says

Small businesses that don’t comply with tax laws are more difficult to track down than major corporations who don’t comply, Jim Harra, chief executive at the UK tax office, said Monday.His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs can broadly estimate tax non-compliance, but it is difficult to track exactly how and when small businesses don’t comply, Harra said at a Public Accounts Committee hearing on tax fraud in the retail sector.“We can estimate it. But of course, what the tax gap doesn’t do is tell us...
Bloomberg Tax •

Platform Reporting Rules Are Boosting VAT Compliance, HMRC Says

New rules requiring UK online marketplaces to share more data about sellers have led to a “significant increase in VAT compliance,” according to the chief of the country’s tax office.“What we’ve seen as a result of the introduction of these online marketplace rules is a significant reduction in the non-compliance and a significant increase in VAT compliance,” Jim Harra, chief executive at His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, told a Parliament committee Wednesday. Still, he said that it’s “not perf...
Bloomberg Tax •

French Landlords Want Tax Status Unique From Airbnbs in Budget

France’s real estate rental landlords that provide student housing and corporate apartments shouldn’t be lumped in with casual rentals such as Airbnbs for tax purposes, industry leaders said.They called on French lawmakers to reconsider ending a capital gains provision as proposed in the government’s 2025 budget.Michel Barnier, the hand-picked prime minster of President Emmanuel Macron, released the draft budget late Oct. 10. It aims to reduce the national deficit through a series of tax hikes o...