On 29 May 2013, the OECD Ministerial Council at Ministerial Level, comprising countries including Australia, the UK, US, EU, France, Germany, etc, adopted a declaration on [Tax] Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). It declared there was a pressing need to address BEPS and to work towards a level playing field in this area. The Council agreed that national authorities should collaborate in evaluating the issues and developing potential solutions to address the challenges raised by BEPS.
It also encouraged efforts to develop proposals on, among other things:
(i) possible instruments to put an end to or neutralise the effects of hybrid mismatch arrangements and arbitrage;
(ii) possible improvements or clarifications to transfer pricing rules to address specific areas where the current rules produce undesirable results from a policy perspective; and
(iii) updated solutions to the issues related to jurisdiction to tax, in particular in the areas of digital goods and services.
[LTN 105, 3/6/13]