Everson Praises Work Of International Tax Shelter Task Force

by Robert Lee, Tax-News.com, London

01 March 2005

An international tax force established to monitor tax avoidance by multinational corporations has provided national tax authorities with invaluable information on aggressive corporate tax planning techniques, according to US Internal Revenue Service chief Mark W. Everson.

The task force, which came into being last year and is known as the Joint International Tax Shelter Information Centre, is an information sharing initiative involving the governments of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

The main focus of the group is the scrutiny of corporate tax arbitrage and transfer pricing arrangements. However, it is also examining the role played by accountants, bankers and lawyers who dispense advice to multinationals on tax planning issues.

"We have seen things we either would never have picked up or would have picked up years down the road," Mr Everson told the Financial Times in an article published on Monday.

"We have seen a series of kinds of transactions, or in some cases particular transactions, that merit follow-up by the individual taxing authorities," he added.

"There are some indications in what we are seeing now that entities are trying to structure transactions which result in the payment of no tax at all. That is clearly of concern," Mr Everson observed.

According to the FT, the initial findings of the task force will be analysed by the four participating tax authorities later in the spring, when the possibility of expanding membership to include other countries, especially from Europe and Asia, will also be discussed.

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