Demystifying International Tax

The Young Professionals Network invites you to a discussion with Grant Wardell-Johnson on international tax.

International tax is the realm of interaction between often very different individual domestic tax regimes where there are trade, capital and investment flows. For most of the last 100 years focus has been placed on better synchronisation of diverse tax rules through the establishment of nearly 3,000 tax treaties. These efforts were largely geared towards reducing double taxation on the same economic gain.

However, recent times have seen a new focus on circumstances where tax rules give rise to low or no taxation even though there is an economic gain. Some of this is due to the use of low or no tax jurisdictions, but some is also attributable to the mismatch in the tax rules in jurisdictions and the ability of companies to fragment their activities throughout the globe to minimise tax cost. This has become particularly acute where significant value lies in intellectual property.

Since 2013 there has been a multilateral and mostly global focus, driven largely by the OECD and G20, on changing the rules to produce greater coherence to ensure there is no ‘double non-taxation’. This agenda has taken on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).

However, in recent times we have seen a unilateral turn, commenced by the UK, followed by Australia, India and now in a very significant manner by the United States. This is not without problems.

Together with Grant at this event, we will explore where we have been and where we might be going in this difficult world looking at the big trends and issues.

All members and guests are welcome. Free entry. Light refreshments will be served from 6pm.

About the speaker:

Grant is Leader of the Australian Tax Centre at KPMG. He is responsible for thought leadership and consultation with the ATO and Treasury on tax reform, new law and cases.

Grant is Co-chair of the National Tax Liaison Group of the ATO, the Chair of the Tax Technical Committee of Chartered Accountants of Australian and New Zealand, Advisor to the Board of Taxation and a member of Treasury’s Advisory Group on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting.

Grant is an Adjunct Professor in Taxation and Business Law at the UNSW and an Honorary Fellow of the University of Western Australia.