2nd meeting of the IOTA Forum on the Implementation of Measures to Counter BEPS

Ágnes Kővágó's picture
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The 2nd Meeting of the Forum on the Implementation of measures to counter Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) took place on 4-6 December 2018 in Budapest, Hungary. The Forum provided a platform for sharing knowledge and experiences between IOTA member tax administrations and identifying best practices in the implementation of the BEPS Action Plan.

The Forum aims to develop practical guidance and approaches to help member tax administrations in the implementation of BEPS measures, with a special focus on the four minimum standards (countering harmful tax practices, preventing treaty abuse, transfer pricing documentation and country-by-country reporting, and making dispute resolution mechanisms more effective).

53 participants from 27 IOTA member countries, OECD, European Commission and representatives from business and tax consultancy attended the meeting. Participants discussed and shared strategies and the practical application of working methods and tools developed to effectively counter BEPS. The meeting also provided an opportunity to delegates to build up a network of officials specialising in the practical implementation of the BEPS Action Plan.

The main topics discussed at the Forum meeting, based on the ranking of IOTA member tax administrations’ priority areas, were:

•        Incorporating Country-by-Country (“CbC”) reporting mechanisms into internal rules and procedures;

•        Offering suitable organisational and structural solutions for optimising the process of handling requests for Mutual Agreement Procedures (“MAP”); and

•        Enhancing the process of automatic exchange of information on tax rulings, with a particular focus to improve quality and content of the tax rulings summaries exchanged, and to ensure effective implementation of Action 5 of the BEPS Action Plan and EU DAC.

The discussions showed that close cooperation between the tax and IT departments was of paramount importance, in particular with regard to the exchange and appropriate use of CbC reports and the exchange of Tax Ruling information. The Forum also discussed practical approaches to engage with the business community with a view to providing tax certainty and reducing administrative costs and burdens arising from the reporting obligations and to ensure a level playing field. Representatives from tax consultancy and tax officials from Italy, Hungary, Norway and Georgia shared their views in a panel discussion that was moderated by Wolfgang Büttner, International Taxation Expert, IOTA Secretariat.

More information about the Forum is avalaible HERE for IOTA members.