Multinationals ignoring consolidated tax base impacts
Half of multinationals have not considered how consolidated corporate tax base will hit business
Multinationals have failed to include the affects of the EU’s common
consolidated corporate tax base (CCCTB) will have on their business, a
PricewaterhouseCooper’s survey has revealed.
The poll found that nearly half of multinational companies (49%) have still
not considered how a CCCTB will affect their business, yet more than three
quarters (67%) agree that CCCTB will happen, believing it will arrive some time
in the near future.
CCCTB was born of an informal Ecofin meeting back in September 2004, with
details of the ‘likely’ finally agreed version outlined in a EC working in July.
‘UK based multinational companies may ignore CCCTB at their peril, but in
reality the train has already left the station, and is almost certain to arrive
at some point in the near future. The Commission has already outlined its plan
for CCCTB to be an agenda item in the September 2008 Ecofin meeting – this puts
things on track for CCCTB to become a reality as early as 2011,’ said Peter
Cussons, PwC tax partner.
More than one fifth (21%) of tax directors from European-based multinational
companies, who were questioned at the annual PricewaterhouseCoopers Tax
Symposium, also believe that CCCTB will reduce their effective tax rate (ETR).
Only 24% are convinced a CCCTB will increase their ETR. The trend continues
to be one of confidence.
Advantages of a CCCTB directive include automatic cross-border loss offset,
the potential to reduce compliance costs of perhaps up to 20 or so EU Member
States’ tax systems, reduce transfer pricing issues and simplify EU corporate
structuring.
Further reading:
Read
more about the CCCTB here
Read
the more about the PwC survey