Int'l Tax News

Recent US policy changes are forcing life sciences companies to rethink core commercial decisions in ways that require a reexamination of how intercompany pricing for intangible property is structured and defended. The policy changes come from two directions: measures designed to reduce US drug prices, such as most-favored nation pricing; and tariffs.

 To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

An OECD tax official said the side-by-side package's substance-based tax incentive safe harbor—more than the U.S. safe harbor itself—is driving down projected pillar 2 revenue, since it lets jurisdictions use qualified tax incentives to attract investment while capping top-up tax exposure. The OECD plans to release an updated global minimum tax impact assessment incorporating this and other recent implementation data, following its 2020 initial assessment and 2024 working paper.

Click here for full article.

A European Commission staff working document evaluating ATAD found stakeholders view the GAAR's broad, discretionary scope as a source of legal uncertainty, prompting debate over whether Unshell's economic substance criteria should instead be folded into the GAAR or DAC6's hallmark D2—a question the commission has deferred by proposing to address substance via future EU Council implementing acts. The evaluation also flags unresolved tension between the GAAR and pillar 2, with the tax simplification omnibus now clarifying that the GAAR extends to top-up taxes, even as businesses argue CFC rules are increasingly redundant alongside pillar 2.

Click here for full article.

President Trump threatened a 100 percent tariff on any country advancing digital services tax legislation, declaring it would apply immediately and override existing trade deals—prompting the European Commission to defend DSTs as a nondiscriminatory sovereign right and warn it will "respond swiftly and decisively" if the EU is targeted. The clash surfaces just as global digital tax talks resume, with German officials pressing for a coordinated international approach on nexus and profit allocation even as valuation questions grow more complex amid rising AI use.

Click here for full article.

A new economics paper complicates the story about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. For years, supporters have deemed it a pro-growth success, while critics have called it an expensive giveaway tilted toward corporations and high earners.

 To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Disagreements over how to tax cross-border services are proving to be a major hurdle for negotiators working on a United Nations global tax agreement, the head of the negotiating committee said Friday.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Government support for research and development through tax incentives has more than doubled over two decades, new OECD data shows.

 To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

President Trump says any country that imposes a digital services tax on American companies “will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF” on all goods sent to the US.

 To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Tax policy for artificial intelligence should focus on where profits are created, a top OpenAI executive said on June 26,2026.

 To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

This article reports that President Trump threatened a 100% tariff on goods from any country imposing a digital services tax on U.S. companies. The article links the threat to France’s existing digital services tax on revenues from online marketplaces and advertising, as well as broader U.S. objections to European DSTs that the U.S. Trade Representative has argued discriminate against American technology companies.

To read the full article, click here.

The European Court of Justice should back the European Commission’s decision to extend a state aid investigation into whether a Gibraltar entity of the Mead Johnson Nutrition group received preferential tax treatment, an adviser to the court wrote on June 25, 2026.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

The European Union unveiled a new package to overhaul the bloc’s tax rules on June 24, 2026, the latest effort by Brussels to cut red tape and reduce the regulatory burden on business.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

This official EU item describes a tax simplification package aimed at reducing compliance burdens and modernising the EU direct tax framework. The proposals would remove withholding taxes on certain cross-border intra-EU payments, streamline the interaction between CFC rules and Pillar Two, strengthen cross-border tax dispute resolution, and simplify reporting obligations under the Directive on Administrative Cooperation, country-by-country reporting, and top-up tax information returns.

To read the full article, click here.

Artificial intelligence doesn’t belong in the OECD-led discussions about taxing the digital economy, the top US delegate to the organization said on June 23, 2026.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

The OECD plans to release a report in July on the impact of the global minimum tax following a January agreement that carves out US multinationals from key parts of the minimum levy’s framework.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Tariff revenue is now flowing out of the US Treasury’s coffers faster than it’s coming in, with nearly $22 billion in unlawfully collected duties reimbursed to importers in May.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Corporate income tax exemptions remain the most popular investment tax incentive instrument across most of the globe, data compiled by the OECD shows.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

A senior EU official on Thursday urged the restart of stalled global digital tax negotiations “as soon as possible,” warning that the issue of untaxed revenue from digital services is unlikely to go away.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Global funds are piling into Indian government bonds after New Delhi removed taxes on debt for foreign investors and eased ownership caps, along with moves that have helped stabilize the rupee.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Switzerland lost its position as the world’s most competitive economy to Singapore, slipping to third place in the ranking as high US trade tariffs and a strong Swiss franc hurt investment flows.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Colombia wants to join the US in having its companies exempted from part of the 15% global minimum tax that dozens of countries have already adopted.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

The OECD is planning to share documentation on tax morale with several tax administrations in the coming weeks, an official said.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

OECD officials urged governments to reassess existing tax incentives in light of pillar 2, noting that some incentives may be less effective under the global minimum tax framework while others may qualify for favorable treatment. Countries were encouraged to evaluate which incentives benefit in-scope multinationals and consider reforms that align with pillar 2 rules while improving investment certainty and tax policy effectiveness.

Click here for full article.

Tax administrators vouched for potential benefits that a simplified transfer pricing calculation for baseline marketing and distribution activities could have on tax authority capacity and dispute resolution.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

Tax authorities are reporting a significant reduction in time spent tracking non-compliance with payments of value-added tax—from nine months to three—thanks to the use of artificial intelligence, an OECD official said Wednesday.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

In this final installment of the report, Levine looks at the path forward for the EU to use taxation to support growth and innovation, including enhanced cooperation, and suggests that it look to build on U.S. experience rather than replicate it.

Click here for full article.

The UK tax authority proposed changes to its planned transfer pricing documentation requirements Tuesday to lighten the administrative burden for multinational companies. The new proposal for documentation under the International Controlled Transactions Schedule, open for public consultation until July 31, also adds targeted rules for the financial sector.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

The European Union’s US trade deal is close to being implemented after the bloc’s lawmakers gave their final approval, forging ahead despite ongoing transatlantic trade tensions.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

The EU is preparing an ambitious overhaul of the bloc’s corporate tax rules in a bid to cut red tape and boost the European economy’s sluggish growth.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

The OECD is consulting on amendments to its model reporting rules for digital platforms to reduce compliance burdens for gig and sharing economy operators. Key proposals include raising the low-value seller exclusion threshold to €3,000, exempting certain intragroup platform arrangements, and explicitly excluding pure payment processors from reporting obligations.

Click here for full article.

If the UK government is serious about closing the tax gap, it can’t do so by repeatedly squeezing the same companies. There is a more effective path. And it runs through AI.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

French President Emmanuel Macron refused to drop the country’s digital tax after Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on wine, setting the stage for a confrontation when the two leaders meet at the Group of Seven summit in Evian.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

European countries that once worked to keep the United Nations’ tax negotiations from getting off the ground are now among the most active voices inside them.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

The European Commission will propose exempting large multinationals subject to the EU’s 15% corporate minimum tax law from reporting on their cross-border tax arrangements.

To read the full article, click here (subscription required).

The European Commission proposed allowing EU member states to redirect a portion of their defense-related national escape clause budget flexibility toward energy support measures. Several member states and the European Fiscal Board oppose the move, warning it could compromise the credibility of the EU fiscal framework and crowd out necessary military spending.

Click here for full article.

The EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council reached a general approach to extend the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) to downstream steel and aluminum products. While a consensus was achieved to begin negotiations with the European Parliament, several smaller and island member states abstained or dissented over inflationary concerns and the rigid criteria of the emergency suspension clause.

Click here for full article.