Action urged to solve BRI tax issues

More cooperative action is urgently needed by countries associated with the Belt and Road Initiative to mitigate the tax related obstacles in cross-border trade and investment, according to BRI tax authorities.

The authorities are calling for a new approach in the next two years to resolve the lack of clarity and frequent changes of basic tax rules that confuse cross-border taxpayers and to jointly resolve tax disputes, especially as technology-driven and digital business models are emerging.

Other key issues of concern for the tax authorities include multinational companies seeking ways to shift profits to low tax-rate areas or to avoid paying taxes; transfer pricing activities - companies and subsidiaries shifting goods and services among each other to create tax benefits - which increasingly trigger tax disputes; and double taxation, which adds to the costs of cross-border trade and investment.