May 12, 2016
Christine Clough, PMP
Proposed Regulation Would Require U.S.-Registered Companies to Include Information on Taxes Paid in each Country in Annual Reports to the IRS
Time: 10:00am EDT (GFI to testify at approximately 10:50am EST)
Date: Friday, May 13, 2016
Room: Auditorium
Venue: Internal Revenue Service Building, 1111 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20224
Washington, DC – Global Financial Integrity (GFI) Legal Counsel and Director of Government Affairs Heather Lowe will testify at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on Friday during a public hearing on a proposed rulemaking, “Country-by-Country Reporting” that would require companies that file tax returns in the U.S. to include a country-by-country breakdown of income earned and taxes paid. GFI, as a member of the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition, has been supporting the IRS proposal as well as calling for additional language to strengthen and clarify the rulemaking, including a call for the information to be publicly available.
There is considerable evidence that multinational companies systematically and aggressively artificially shift their profits and expenses between jurisdictions based on the tax laws in each area. This Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) undermines the collection of the appropriate amount of taxes in the United States, and elsewhere. To address this practice, the U.S. needs to require companies to report on their income and taxes paid in all jurisdictions in which the companies files, so as to shed light on potentially suspicious tax planning. The IRS proposed rule on “Country-by-Country Reporting” is the result of several years of debate and advocacy by many in the international community, including the U.S., to address the growing challenge of BEPS through greater transparency.
“Recent estimates show that the U.S. lost at least $111 billion in corporate tax revenue due to profit shifting from 1983 to 2012, and that the losses have increased substantially in recent years,” Ms. Lowe noted ahead of the hearing. “Profit shifting is contributing to the U.S. deficit, and draining much-needed resources from developing and other financially struggling countries at the same time. Country by country reporting is a necessary tool to help identify and fix the profit shifting problem, and we look forward to a strong final rule from the U.S. Government.”
The hearing will begin at 10:00am EDT on Friday, May 13th in the Auditorium of the Internal Revenue Service Building in Washington. Ms. Lowe is the fifth scheduled speaker. Also speaking at the hearing will be representatives from the Financial Transparency Coalition, Americans for Tax Fairness, the One Campaign, OXFAM America, and others. More information on the hearing can be found here.
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Notes to Editors:
- Click here to read Ms. Lowe’s testimony for Friday.
- Click here to read the FACT Coalition’s written submission during the official comment period for the proposed rulemaking.
- Click here to read all comments submitted to IRS with regards to this proposed rulemaking.
- For more information on Ms. Lowe, click here. To download a high-resolution image of Ms. Lowe, click here.
Contact:
Christine Clough
cclough@gfintegrity.org
+1 202 510 1548 (mobile)
+1 202 293 0740 x231 (office)