USCIB Vice President and International Tax Counsel Rick Minor was quoted in a Bloomberg Law article yesterday regarding the Department of Treasury’s handling of a complex Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tax treaty. Treasury is awaiting business input by December 11, with the deadline for the treaty set on December 31. This treaty would reallocate residual profits of big corporations to market jurisdictions under Pillar One of the two-section tax deal.
Minor was quoted as saying, “USCIB views it as essential for Inclusive Framework members, in-scope businesses, and other stakeholders to be given more time beyond the end of this calendar year to complete this important work.” This quote stems from a letter that was sent to Treasury on November 15.
Business has expressed concern that Treasury’s solicitation of feedback from stakeholders may be the administration’s attempt to buy more time for negotiations before any significant decision-making occurs by nations. This move also shifts pressure regarding the treaty’s success or failure away from negotiators and onto business. However, the comment period also sends the message that the U.S. is taking this treaty seriously, as doubts continue to exist about whether the negotiations will be fruitful.
The full article is available with a subscription to Bloomberg Tax and can be accessed here.