Controlled foreign companies of Russian residents in the context of world trends

The subject of this article is financial relations of the state and its tax residents with foreign assets (stock), as well as control over such companies through various legal mechanisms. The authors examined the main global trends in the development of legislation on controlled foreign corporations, as well as characteristics of tax systems that may contribute to such norms introduction. It was found that implementation of international multilateral agreements such as CRS MCAA and CBC MCAA in the field of tax control enhances development of anti-offshore regulation, including legislation on controlled foreign corporations. Particular attention is paid to the comparative legal analysis of the controlled foreign companies (CFC) rules in 15 jurisdictions, including the Russian Federation and identification of similar and specific rules. As a result of the research, the authors came to the conclusion that Russia is following the world trends, although at this stage it is not the country that forms them. In the future, to successfully apply the CFC legislation in the Russian Federation, it will be necessary to improve the existing norms , increase the efficiency of tax administration and improve the legal status of taxpayers.

Is Argentina Ready for the New International Tax Era?

We are facing a new era in the international tax system. Even though we have achieved consensus in many areas, adopting multilateral solutions or standardizing by establishing minimum standards, we are also facing unilateral measures due to a lack of consensus in other very sensitive areas. Argentina’s approach toward the international tax system has always been very dependent on the local politics. In very recent years, the objective of becoming a member of the OECD has made Argentina its best student. But it has not always been this way. To understand if Argentina is ready to face the new era that the international tax system is going through, we will review four relevant—and capriciously chosen—aspects of Argentine international tax rules, taking into account the evolution, current situation, and effects. We will analyze the tax treaty network, transparency policy, CFC rules, and taxation of digitaleconomy.

History of the emergence of legal regulation of activity of controlled foreign companies in the Russian Federation

Spread of the possibility of free movement of capital from one jurisdiction to another allows the companies incorporated in high-tax countries, to use low-tax or tax-free jurisdictions for conducting business and, as well as reducing tax burden. One of the mechanisms of tax evasion is the creation of controlled foreign companies that can delay the payment of dividends to the parent company, i.e. the payment of income that will be taxed in the country of tax residence of the parent company. The countries, in turn, adopt CFC rules (controlled foreign companies riles) to prevent tax evasion, which may change due to various circumstances. The CFC rules are aimed at determining the actual tax liability of the taxpayer. However, there are situations when CFC rules are implemented in a broader approach – for example, a wide range of entities would fall under the definition of “controlled foreign companies” or “controlling entities”, which may result in the fact that the conditions for application of CFC rules may arise for the entities that do not exercise control over a foreign company. In this case, CFC rules can worsen the situation of the taxpayer. This creates an abuse of the right of controlling authorities in terms of preventing tax evasion. In order to avoid such situations, it is necessary to improve the CFC rules by limiting the circle of entities and clearly distinguishing between abuse of the rights and lawful actions in implementation of CFC rules.

The BEPS Project

This chapter reveals the US government's struggles in assuming its usual leadership position in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) initiatives. This happened for entirely domestic reasons: the Obama administration's inability to implement its preferred solution to BEPS (base erosion and profit shifting)—a tightening of controlled foreign company (CFC) rules—in the face of opposition by US multinationals, paired with the administration's strong political commitment to tax fairness, which prevented the administration from abandoning the initiative altogether. The administration's lack of purpose initially opened agenda space for other governments. Between the release of a first set of discussion drafts and the final BEPS reports, however, the United States fought a successful rearguard battle, retrenching attempts at expanding the taxing rights of source countries and essentially preserving the status quo. This success occurred despite the inclusion of the Group of 20 (G20) emerging economies, which could be expected to shift the power balance away from the United States, and in accordance with the preferences of US multinationals. The diffusion of unilateral initiatives by source countries, which are still subject to political conflict, confirms their frustration with the outcome of the BEPS project.

Lʼanalyse économétrique appliquée à la fiscalité internationale

Des études récentes contredisent lʼhypothèse axiomatique selon laquelle les règles CFC («controlled foreign corporation rules») conduisent toujours à une augmentation effective des coûts du capital. Bien que indémontrable lʼexistence dʼeffets corrélatifs entre la législation anti-évasion CFC rules et la modulation artificielle du comportement de prise de décision des investisseurs, lʼorientation de ce comportement a démontré des paramètres spécifiques (et complexes) dans lʼanalyse économétrique, à la mesure où des variables, harmonisées aux standards de différentes règles CFC, dans ses différents paramètres, furent considérées: a) dʼun point de vue béhavioriste, cela ratifie la conclusion, dans le sens que cette législation est efficacement combative au détournement artificiel de profits à lʼétranger; b) il en démontre encore la potentielle réadaptation de lʼingénierie financière des multinationales aux nouveaux paramètres dʼimposition-limite, dans des juridictions à faible imposition («seuil de déclenchement fiscal»); et enfin c) il révèle que des règles CFC distinctes peuvent générer des résultats aussi distincts, influençant le comportement économico-rationnel des agents selon des modulations et des perspectives variées. Dans un plexus de 56 pays, avec un biais important de légitimation à lʼexistence de normes anti-détournement type CFC, il a été conclu que ces règles inhibent les structures de déviation de revenus passifs, sans avoir en contrepartie une influence négative significative dans les investissements productifs. La validation de ces corrélations causales sʼest produite en modifiant les paramètres temporel et des variables spécifiques.