The study conducted by the Centre of European Economic Research (ZEW), the University of Mannheim and Ernst & Young contributes to the ongoing evaluation of the proposal for a Draft Council Directive on a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CC(C)TB) released by the European Commission on March 16, 2011. For the first time, details on the determination of taxable income under the proposed Council Directive are compared to prevailing corporate tax accounting regulations in all 27 Member States, Switzerland and the US. The study presents evidence on the scope of differences and similarities between national tax accounting regulations and the Directive’s treatment in a complete, yet concise form. Based on this comprehensive comparison, it goes on to discuss remaining open questions and adjustments needed if the Directive is to be implemented in national tax law. Readers seeking a basis for taking an active part in the public debate will find a valuable source of information and a first impression of how the proposed CC(C)TB would affect corporate tax burdens in the European Union.

How does EU law affect Member State corporate tax systems and the cross-border activities of companies? This unique study traces the historical development of EU corporate tax law and provides an in-depth analysis of a number of issues affecting companies, groups of companies and permanent establishments. Existing legislation, soft-law and the case-law of the Court of Justice are examined. The proposed CCCTB Directive and its potential application through enhanced co-operation are also considered. In addition to the tax issues pertaining to direct investment, the author examines the taxation of passive investment income, corporate reorganisations, exit taxes and the restrictive effect of domestic anti-abuse regimes. By doing so, the convergences and divergences arising from the interplay of EU corporate tax law and international tax law, especially the OECD model, are uncovered and highlighted.

This book provides a description and analysis of tax systems worldwide. It offers practical guidance on international planning approaches from a team of both tax practitioners and academics. In addition to references to country-specific tax legislation - including laws and rules in all EU Member States plus the United States, as well as special provisions in Australia, Japan, and elsewhere - the book discusses important ECJ decisions and various other case studies.

The European Commission’s proposed Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) is the most ambitious project in the history of direct taxation within the EU. While retaining the right of Member States to set their own corporate tax rate, the proposed system allows for a ‘one-stop shop’ for filing tax returns and consolidating prof its and losses across the EU. In this book – the first to offer guidance to practitioners whose work will be affected by these new developments – 19 prominent representatives of the business community, tax consultancy, academic taxation scholarship and tax administration discuss the proposed system’s rationale, structure and uncertainties, ranging from very technical aspects, to the wording of the proposal, to political considerations. These topics include the following: eligibility; formation of a group; the concept of ‘permanent establishment’; foreign tax credits; ‘dual resident’ companies; consequences of entering and leaving; depreciation of fixed assets; repackaged asset transfers; appeals procedure; disagreements among Member States; subsidiarity and the ‘yellow card procedure’; international aspects and tax treaties; sharing mechanism and transfer pricing; and anti-abuse rules. The discussion raises numerous issues likely to lead to future amendments, and for this reason, along with its practical value in developing an understanding of the proposed system’s specific effects, the book will be welcomed by tax consultants and lawyers worldwide, corporate tax advisers, European tax authorities and tax researchers and academics.

Tax competition in the form of harmful tax practices can distort trade and investment patterns, erode national tax bases and shift part of the tax burden onto less mobile tax bases. The Report emphasises that governments must intensify their cooperative actions to curb harmful tax practices.

Schemes of residual profit allocation (RPA) tax multinationals by allocating their ‘routine’ profits to countries in which their activities take place and sharing their remaining ‘residual’ profit across countries on some formulaic basis. They have recently and rapidly come to prominence in policy discussions, yet almost nothing is known about their impact on revenue, investment and efficiency. This paper explores these issues, conceptually and empirically. It finds residual profits to be substantial, but concentrated in a relatively few MNEs, headquartered in few countries. The impact on tax revenue of reallocating excess profits under RPA, while adverse for investment hubs, appears beneficial for lower income countries even when the formula allocates by destination-based sales. The impact on investment incentives is ambiguous and specific both to countries and MNE groups; only if the rate of tax on routine profits is low does aggregate efficiency seem likely to increase.

A comprehensive and comparative analysis of corporate tax systems, focusing on structural defects and how they are addressed in practice.