Eversheds comment: Cameron's good intentions likely to fall foul of international tax policy

• United Kingdom

24-01-2013

Commenting on David Cameron's pronouncements on companies in Britain paying their fair share of tax, Ben Jones, tax expert at global law firm Eversheds, says:

"Cameron's statements on the taxation of multinational companies will no doubt receive strong support from the UK public, but he will have to work hard to follow through on these good intentions and avoid the issue becoming mired by the bureaucracy of international tax policy.

"Central to many of the tax structures put in place by multinational companies are the international rules on transfer pricing which govern the price for tax purposes to be attributed to supplies between companies in the same group. Changing these rules requires broad international agreement, which typically takes a long time to obtain and can be problematic due to different countries having competing objectives. International agreement is however key. If the UK were to "go it alone" and introduce only national measures to tackle such structures, there could be serious consequences for the UK's competitiveness internationally and the potential for reciprocal measures imposed by other countries that may be detrimental for UK businesses operating overseas."

• Ben Jones
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