The author is Alex Hunter, Editor, TP News. He oversees and updates the publication and also regularly writes news stories about transfer pricing and international tax law. Alex is reachable on email (editor@transferpricingnews.com) and by phone (+447808558597).
The Australian Government today published for stakeholders’ comments a draft legislation to implement the OECD’s Multilateral Convention to implement tax treaty-related base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) measures in Australia.
The Convention was developed by the OECD to swiftly implement a series of BEPS proposals in over 1,000 bilateral tax treaties. The Convention would also implement BEPS minimum standards to counter treaty abuse and to improve dispute resolution mechanisms. Australia was one of the 76 tax jurisdictions to sign the Convention in June 2017.
The first modifications to bilateral tax treaties are expected to enter into effect this year.
The Exposure Draft legislation – published on February 8 – would give the Convention the force of law in Australia. Pending the ratification of the Convention by Australia and its bilateral tax treaty partners, the Convention will modify a majority of Australia’s bilateral tax treaties to implement the relevant BEPS outcomes.
The Government has invited stakeholders to provide input on the Exposure Draft legislation and its accompanying Explanatory Memorandum. Following this consultation process, the Explanatory Memorandum will be reviewed to reflect recent developments affecting the status of the Convention, the Government said.
Comments must be received by February 23.
The author is editorial assistant, TP News