Prominent among initiatives addressing the urgent need for a common understanding between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and national tax authorities about risks and risk assessment is the International Compliance Assurance Programme (ICAP), which provides a channel for MNEs to engage in simultaneous discussions with multiple national tax administrations, thus enhancing the potential for advance tax assurance. To a certain extent, the ICAP represents the internationalization of Co-operative Compliance frameworks which were, until then, restricted within the borders of single jurisdictions. This book is the first to investigate Co-operative Compliance alongside with the ICAP, describing developments in twelve countries (Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Following a general introduction, two opening perspectives on the ICAP are presented, one from the OECD and one from a participating tax administration (the Netherlands), leading to the twelve country reports and a special chapter on transfer pricing, which is the main issue in international tax disputes. Specific elements reviewed include the following: criteria to enter the programme; the range of taxes covered by the programme; real-time consultation procedures; appeal procedures within the programme; the possibility to ‘agree to disagree’ and to continue Co-operative Compliance even in cases of litigation; risk management strategies within tax authorities; corporate administrative compliance burden; and main sources of tax uncertainty. Country reports are contributed by tax professionals and tax academics experienced in dealing with Co-operative Compliance and the ICAP. Each report addresses the same questions, so that all the reports cover the same features of domestic relationship approaches and the ICAP. A final chapter reviews the collected contributions and offers some concluding remarks. Although the ICAP process probably will undergo further adjustments, it is certain that the road to more international cooperation between tax authorities and MNEs is now open. This timely book, as a comparative review of the implementation of the ICAP among leading jurisdictions active in global trade, provides matchless insights into trends, similarities, differences and their implications. It will be welcomed by all stakeholders in the international tax community, including lawyers, taxation authorities and academics.

National taxation authorities around the world are rapidly improving international cooperation, given the unprecedented triple impact of persistent revelations of large-scale corporate tax avoidance, the ever-increasing intricacies of digital cross-border transactions, and the unprecedented revenue deficits engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also a growing recognition that improving tax compliance needs to be reconciled with a legitimate desire on the part of businesses to have some certainty about their taxes. Cooperative compliance is one way to achieve that. This first analysis of the details of cooperative compliance programmes currently in operation describes tax control frameworks, suggests practical examples to assist practitioners in tax administrations and the private sector, and provides multiple perspectives on the design and legitimacy of such programmes. Drawing on detailed information contributed by tax practitioners and academics from a wide range of jurisdictions worldwide, the book identifies and explains certain crucial elements of successful programmes: the criteria for access to cooperative compliance (e.g., is the programme voluntary or mandatory? Is there a financial threshold? Will the criteria be publicly available?); model legislation that can facilitate the operation of such programmes (statutory provisions, administrative rules and procedures, etc.); the foundations for an international agreement on an audit assurance standard for tax control frameworks (including the role of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Union (EU), and other international organizations); how to develop a methodology to measure the cost and benefits of cooperative compliance programmes; detailed case studies of existing compliance programmes in Australia, Austria, China, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Russia; and how to communicate a cooperative compliance programme to obtain trust from society. The analysis draws on two years of work led by WU Global Tax Policy Center (GTPC) at Vienna University of Economics and Business in cooperation with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Commonwealth Association of Tax Administrators (CATA). The project brought together over two hundred people from 25 countries, including public officials, businesses, and academics. Tax certainty and predictability are key components for providing a tax environment that is conducive to cross-border trade and investment, and, in the long term, it is in the interest of both governments and businesses to minimize tax uncertainty as much as possible. This truly helpful book promises to pave the way to an internationally effective tax framework that will be welcomed by taxation authorities and practitioners worldwide.

The challenges and opportunities of new technologies in the tax field Technological developments induced major reforms in the regulatory international and domestic tax landscapes as well as in the developments in the use of technology by tax administrations and taxpayers. New technology, especially the innovations in virtual asset-light cross-border business organizations, data analytics, service and process automation, on one hand, disrupted the well-established legal tax principles and rules and, on the other, stimulated informed data-driven and structured solutions in tax compliance. Technological advances affected nearly every area and each aspect of taxation: Direct tax regulations, indirect tax law, and tax procedures including tax compliance, and tax control functions. International organizations such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN), and the European Commission as a supranational organization fostered critical legislative reforms and proposals among which are the OECD Two-Pillar Solution to Address the Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation of the Economy, Article 12B of the UN Model Tax Convention to tax automated digital services, new rules for tracing transfers of crypto-assets in the EU, as well as the EU ́s VAT e-commerce package and "VAT in the Digital Age" package. While these proposals aim to address a wide range of the benefits and challenges of Economy 4.0, certain questions arise concerning the consistency of the legislative developments with their initial objectives, the appropriateness of the legal form for the economic substance of the regulated relations for the effectiveness of the regulations as well as their coherence. This volume contains a collection of scientific chapters on the general topic "Tax and Technology" that were successfully completed by the 2022/2023 LL.M. graduates of the Institute for Austrian and International Tax Law, WU. The volume is divided into three parts that contain the contributions dealing with the impact of the technology on international tax law, indirect tax law, and procedural law. Each chapter provides an in-depth analysis of a unique research question aiming to innovatively contribute to the current debate and develop a practical approach for implementing the findings.

A robust and efficient tax administration in a modern tax system requires effective tax policies and legislation. Policy frameworks should cover all aspects of tax administration and include the essential processes of capturing, processing, analyzing, and responding to information provided by taxpayers and others concerning taxpayers’ affairs. By far the greatest challenges facing tax administrations in all countries are those posed by the continuing developments in the digital economy. Whereas societies are grappling to come to terms with the transitions from the third industrial or digital revolutions, revenue authorities grapple with the consequences for the sustainability of their tax bases and the efficient administration and collection of taxes. This book presents a critical review of the status of tax systems in Asia and the Pacific in the era of the digital economy. The book suggests how countries can maximize their domestic resource mobilization when confronted by the challenges that digitalization inevitably produces, as well as how they can best harness or take advantage of aspects of digitalization to serve their own needs. The full implications of the COVID-19 crisis are still too uncertain to predict, but it is clear that the crisis will accelerate the trend towards digitalization and also increase pressures on public finances. This, in turn, may shape the preference for, and the nature of, both multilateral and unilateral responses to the tax challenges posed by digitalization and the need to address them. This book will be a timely reference for those researching on taxation in digital economy and for policy makers.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

Globalization - the growing integration of economies and societies around the world, is a complex process. The focus of this research is the impact of economic integration on developing countries and especially the poor people living in these countries. Whether economic integration supports poverty reduction and how it can do so more effectively are key questions asked. The research yields 3 main findings with bearings on current policy debates about globalization. Firstly, poor countries with some 3 billion people have broken into the global market for manufactures and services, and this successful integration has generally supported poverty reduction. Secondly, inclusion both across countries and within them is important as a number of countries (pop. 2 billion) are failing as states, trading less and less, and becoming marginal to the world economy. Thirdly, standardization or homogenization is a concern - will economic integration lead to cultural or institutional homogenization?

Over the next 25 years developing countries will move to center stage in the global economy. Global Economic Prospects 2007 analyzes the opportunities - and stresses - this will create. While rich and poor countries alike stand to benefit, the integration process will make more acute stresses already apparent today - in income inequality, in labor markets, and in the environment. Over the next 25 years, rapid technological progress, burgeoning trade in goods and services, and integration of financial markets create the opportunity for faster long-term growth. However, some regions, notably Africa, are at risk of being left behind. The coming globalization will also see intensified stresses on the "global commons." Addressing global warming, preserving marine fisheries, and containing infectious diseases will require effective multilateral collaboration to ensure that economic growth and poverty reduction proceed without causing irreparable harm to future generations."