Manal Corwin appointed Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration
Manal Corwin has been appointed Director of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, the OECD announced on Friday 13 January. As of 3 April 2023, she will lead the work of the Centre across all areas, including the two-pillar solution to the tax challenges of digitalisation, the Base Erosion and Profit-Shifting Project, the tax transparency agenda, and the Centre’s participation in the OECD’s new Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches. Currently, Manal Corwin serves as Partner-in-charge of the National Tax Office and Lead Director of the Board of Directors for KPMG, LLP in the United States. In the past, she held senior tax policy positions in two separate US Administrations and previously served as a delegate and then Vice Chair of the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs and as delegate to the Global Forum on Tax and Transparency. The appointment of Manal Corwin will ensure the successful continuation of the Centre’s critically important work following the recent departure of Pascal Saint-Amans as Director after 12 years in the role, the OECD said.
IASB proposes temporary relief from deferred tax accounting under GLOBE rules
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published on Monday 9 January an exposure draft outlining potential amendments to the International Accounting Standard 12 Income Taxes. The proposed amendments aim to provide temporary relief from accounting for deferred taxes arising from the imminent implementation of the Pillar Two model rules published by the OECD. The IASB is responding to stakeholders' concerns about the potential implications of these rules for the accounting for income tax in financial statements. The proposed amendments would introduce a temporary exception to the accounting for deferred taxes arising from the implementation of the rules and targeted disclosure requirements for affected companies. The exposure draft is open for comment until 10 March 2023. Due to the project's accelerated nature, the IASB aims to finalise any amendments in the second quarter of 2023, subject to comments received.
Negotiations at full swing on the EP report on the Pandora Papers
MEPs of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters (FISC) debated, on Monday 9 January, the draft own-initiative report on the lessons learnt from the Pandora Papers and other relevant revelations.The rapporteur Niels Fuglsang (S&D, Denmark) explained that 183 amendments have been received from all political groups covering all parts of the report. The report is set to be voted on 31 January in the ECON committee but could be delayed for a couple of weeks as there are still some divisions among MEPs. The rapporteur reported that there is an agreement between MEPs on several topics: - the important role of whistle-blower protection and the freedom of press, - the need for an increased transparency about elected officials, - the need to look at intermediaries facilitating tax avoidance and tax evasion, - the necessity to have revolving doors mechanisms and cooling off periods, - the demand of a separation of accountancy and financial advising in the big accountancy firms, - the importance of a good exchange of information between countries and - the need to increase the credibility of the UE blacklist of tax havens. However, three main questions would divide MEPs: - singling out certain countries and pointing fingers in the report, - the need for more qualified majority voting on tax issues and - introducing new EU coordinated taxes.
MEPs divided over the DEBRA proposal
On Thursday 12 January, MEPs of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) met for a consideration of the draft report on the proposal laying down rules on a debt-equity bias reduction allowance (DEBRA). While the rapporteur Luděk Niedermayer (EPP, Czech) and the representatives of the S&D and Renew Europe groups suggested further fine-tuning of the Commission's proposal, the Greens/EFA Group reportedly did not support it. The Council of the EU decided to put this file on hold until the BEFIT proposal is made and to reassess the need for this proposal. For the rapporteur, this approach is not the right one and it is better to address some of the concerns rather than to put the proposal on hold. In his draft report, he proposes some changes, especially with the aim of better reflecting the impact of the proposal on the SMEs and calls on the Council to continue the negotiations. Amendments to the draft report must be tabled by 18 January and the vote in the ECON committee is scheduled for 21 March.
Update of EU AML Blacklist delayed
On Wednesday 11 January, permanent representatives of Member States to the EU reportedly agreed to extend by one month the deadline for objecting to the European Commission’s proposal to add to the AML list the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gibraltar, Mozambique, Tanzania, and the United Arab Emirates, and to remove Nicaragua, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe. The rationale behind this postponement would reportedly be the fact that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will review its list in February and that the EU should take into account those changes. The reluctance of some Member States to add the United Arab Emirates to the EU list would reportedly also be another reason for the extension of the deadline. Member States have now until 20 February to object to the Commission’s proposal.
Disclaimer
This newsletter contains information about European tax policies and developments gathered from official documents, hearings, conferences and the press. It does not reflect the official position of ETAF nor should it be taken as a written statement on behalf of ETAF.
