What made base erosion and profit shifting project possible? Identifying factors for building momentum for reform of international taxation

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to unveil the true background of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) Project and to suggest crucial indexes for bringing a movement into a future ceiling causing a struggle of the international tax system.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper looks into the historical context of this project before and after Starbucks’ scandal, comparing to other contexts of the international tax system. Also, this paper partially reviews BEPS from a legal perspective.

Findings

The key factors for building momentum of reform of international taxation are a country having a government willing to embrace the cause of reform, unfairness felt toward entities using tax avoidance schemes which other comparable entities could not be use, grass-roots pressure for the reform, effective places to negotiate cooperation among major countries for the reform, solid cooperation among many countries in the world to implement standards and rhetoric of slogan with less opposition.

Originality/value

The momentum of the reform of international taxation was analyzed before. But the BEPS Project has involved some unique events as compared with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s project on harmful tax practices, such as initiation of NGOs and boycott by consumers. Additionally, this paper will discuss insights, which the former research did not do.

Citation

Matsuoka, A. (2018), "What made base erosion and profit shifting project possible? Identifying factors for building momentum for reform of international taxation", Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 795-810. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-08-2017-0072