Trade Talks

Depending on the design of a country’s tax system, application of the arm’s-length principle may be relevant in determining the taxable objects for one or more direct taxes (income tax, corporate tax, profits tax, etc.). Generally, most countries’ transfer pricing legislation has broad application across direct taxes. One notable exception being Ireland, where the transfer pricing legislation introduced in 2010 applies only to certain classes of income for direct tax purposes.  Countries with other specific types of direct taxes governing specific sectors or transactions types (such as a mining income tax) may need to consider application of transfer pricing legislation to them. Typically, this would be achieved through separate provisions being inserted in the relevant taxing acts. However, where a consolidated tax code has been adopted, a single set of legislation may be possible. Transfer pricing provisions may also be necessary for other types of taxes such as a resources royalty p

To understand ‘BEPS 2.0’ first we need to understand what BEPS is. BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit Shifting) is a tax planning strategy that is used by MNCs to shift their profits from high-tax jurisdiction to low-tax or no-tax jurisdiction. Basically, companies erode the tax base through deductible payments such as interest and royalties, which is undoubtedly an unfair practice to local tax authorities. To limit these practices OECD identified 15 action plans in 2015. But a number of problems remain outstanding, particularly regarding digitalization and the digital economy. Hence, on 29th January 2019, OECD came up with new proposals to combat BEPS activities. Which are generally called ‘BEPS 2.0’. This new policy fills the gaps and answers the questions which remained unanswered in ‘BEPS 1.0’. As of now, there are Pillar One and Pillar Two proposals announced under ‘BEPS 2.0’. Pillar One focuses on coherent review in profit allocation, whereas Pillar Two focuses on exercising of prim