Taxation

Members Only (password required)

Background

U.S. businesses rely on sound international tax policies to facilitate trade and investment. Many of these policies are developed and coordinated in the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA). The Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD is the channel through which business works to build and communicate international business consensus on key taxation issues to the CFA. USCIB also works through established relationships with the U.S. Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, and Congress to eliminate obstacles to international trade and investment in domestic tax legislation.

Objectives

Enhance the competitiveness of U.S. business by promoting sound, appropriate, and consistent international tax policy at home and abroad; eliminate obstacles to international trade and investment in U.S. tax legislation and regulations; prevent and eliminate government policies and practices that result in double taxation.

Chair

Bill Sample

Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Tax

Microsoft Corporation

Vice Chair / Past Chair

Michael P. Reilly

Vice President, Taxation

Johnson & Johnson

Staff Contacts

Lynda K. Walker, Esq.

Vice President and International Tax Counsel

(202) 371-1316 or lwalker@uscib-dc.org

Erin Breitenbucher

Program Assistant, Taxation

(202) 682-7465 or ebreitenbucher@uscib-dc.org

Working Groups/Subcommittees

BIAC/ICC Subcommittee

Inbound Investment Subcommittee

Legislative and Administrative Developments Subcommittee

Tax Treaties Subcommittee

Transfer Pricing Subcommittee

Working Group on Business Restructuring

Working Group on Consumption Taxes

Working Group on Environment and Energy Taxes

Working Group on Financial Services Issues

Current Priorities

· Present views of USCIB members directly to U.S. and international policy makers utilizing our extensive network and exclusive international affiliations to provide early input and active participation in the tax policy process.

· Provide leadership and business perspective in shaping policy working through BIAC on key OECD projects, including: business restructuring; tax treaty treatment of mutual funds (collective investment vehicles); rules and procedures to resolve international taxation conflicts and double taxation disputes; modifications to Transfer Pricing Guidelines, including comparability and transactional profit methods issues; application of consumption taxes on services and intangibles through international VAT/GST Guidelines; the Forum on Tax Administration’s study of tax intermediaries; the OECD’s current plan for enlargement and expansion; and, the OECD’s role in responding to the international financial crisis.

· Engage with the OECD to ensure strong business input on work related to the Attribution of Profits to a Permanent Establishment, Business Restructurings and Taxation of Tradable Permits.

· Draft and submit comments to OECD on transfer pricing issues involved in business restructurings on behalf of U.S. business, as well as participate in formulation of BIAC comments.

· Promote business interests to the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees on International Tax Reform and U.S. Competitiveness.

· Through BIAC, work with the OECD to ensure the maintenance of an effective system for monitoring the implementation of and revisions to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and the OECD Model Income Tax Treaty.

· Support amendments to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, including enactment of foreign tax simplification provisions that would significantly reduce the burden of complexity for U.S. multinationals and enhance their international competitiveness.

· Comment to the U.S. Senate and the Treasury Department on pending bilateral tax treaties; offer amendments to ongoing revisions of the U.S. Model Tax Treaty and the OECD Model Double Taxation Convention.

Recent Accomplishments

· Signed on to a letter on June 14, 2010 asking the Senate to remove the international tax provisions included in the “Tax Extenders” legislation approved by the House of Representatives.

· Successfully managed the 5th OECD International Tax Conference in Washington, D.C. on June 7-8, 2010.

· Signed on to two letters, one on March 9, 2010 and one on April 26, 2010, that express concerns with the international tax provisions as proposed in the Obama Administration’s 2011 budget.

· Led BIAC drafting efforts on comments on the Revised OECD Discussion Draft of a New Article 7.

· Submitted USCIB Comments on the Proposed Revision to Chapters 1-3 of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and participated in the drafting efforts of the separate BIAC Comments.

· Signed on to the motion for leave to file amicus briefs in the Xilinx case as a petitioner on the issue of the arm’s length standard under the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines.

· Submitted USCIB comments on the Temporary Cost Sharing Regulations to the Internal Revenue Service.

· Supported two letters in opposition to the Administration’s proposal to repeal the current deferral system; one on March 24, 2009 and one on July 23, 2009.

· Successfully managed the 4^th OECD Tax Conference in Washington, D.C, The OECD's Evolving Role in Shaping International Tax Policy.

· Submitted USCIB comments on the OECD Discussion Draft on Transfer Pricing Aspects of Restructuring and led the drafting efforts on the separate BIAC comments.

· Increased USCIB member companies’ participation in BIAC projects and work product.

· Led BIAC drafting efforts on comments to the OECD Discussion Draft on the Revised Article 7 (Business Profits).

· Coordinated BIAC drafting efforts on comments to the OECD Discussion Draft on Transactional Profit Methods.

· Through BIAC, participated in recent OECD Consultation on Transfer Pricing Comparability and Transactional Profit Methods Issues.

· Chaired and coordinated BIAC comments to OECD on Transfer Pricing Comparability Issues.

· Ensured our members views were heard through extensive comments to the U.S. Department of Treasury and IRS on proposed Transfer Pricing Services and Cost Sharing Regulations.

· Provided U.S. business input through BIAC to FTA’s Intermediaries report; briefed U.S. IRS on U.S. business perspective.

· Successfully managed Third Annual OECD Conference in Washington, DC, to brief U.S. business on OECD taxation activities and convey business views to the OECD Secretariat, CFA and U.S. Government on key OECD tax projects; sponsored conference on current Transfer Pricing issues in China and India; sponsored conference on business restructuring and contract manufacturing and cost sharing regulations.

· Through BIAC, participated in business consultations with the OECD on revised drafts on the Attribution of Profits to a Permanent Establishment (Parts I – IV), successfully encouraging the OECD to more fully consider the practical application of their approach before finalizing the project.

· Through BIAC, participated in consultations with the OECD on improving the dispute resolution procedures, including input into the OECD Draft Manual on Effective Mutual Agreement Procedures.

· Coordinated business consultation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury on OECD Discussion Draft on the Article 5 Commentary to the OECD Model Income Tax Treaty (Proposed Clarifications to the Permanent Establishment Definition). And through BIAC, continued to provide input on Permanent Establishment issues in Article 5 (annex) of the Commentary to the OECD Model Income Tax Treaty to the OECD.

· Through BIAC, provided input to the OECD for their study on the interpretation of Article 24 of the OECD Model Income Tax Treaty dealing with non-discrimination or “national treatment”.

· Through BIAC, provided comments on OECD draft and proposed work program on the Application of Consumption Taxes to the Trade in Services and Intangibles. Coordinated consultation with the U.S. Department of Treasury to convey the BIAC position on the proposed OECD work program.

· Through BIAC, provided comments on OECD’s discussion draft on proposed changes to the Commentary to the Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital in relation to the tax treaty treatment of services.

· Provided business views to the OECD on tax & non-tax aspects of business restructuring.

· Provided business views to the IRS on improving the Advance Pricing Agreement program through both written submission and testimony.

· Worked to contain potential damage to bona fide business activities that may arise out of the OECD project on harmful tax competition, refocusing the scope of the project to transparency and information exchange, through letters and consultations/meetings with OECD and US Treasury officials.

· Through BIAC, worked with the OECD to ensure the maintenance of an effective system for monitoring the implementation of the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines, i.e. by providing a list of enforcement practices that may deviate from the Guidelines; commenting on new legislation and regulations not in conformity with the Guidelines; and suggesting examples of how the Guidelines are intended to operate. Played a leading role in organizing business participation in the OECD peer review of Mexico’s application of the Guidelines.