OECD proposes rules on corporate taxation

A proposal that would require corporations to be taxed in countries where profits are made rather than in the lowest cost jurisdictions has been published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Following the announcement on Monday, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF) wrote in a statement that it expected “the participation of the largest financial centres will lead to the creation of a level playing field for Switzerland and its competitors”. The OECD report found that the profit rates reported by international corporations in low tax countries were on average twice as high as their worldwide profit rates. “Switzerland supports international efforts to achieve greater transparency and a level playing field with regard to the taxation of multinationals,” the SIF statement said. The new standards, known as the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project and expected to be adopted in November ...