OECD Secretary-General Tax Report to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (Istanbul, Turkey, February 2015)

In Brisbane, G20 Leaders welcomed the package of 2014 BEPS deliverables – the first measures announced as part of the ambitious 2-year OECD/G20 BEPS Action Plan to reform the international tax system. Important headway has already been made on some of the remaining components of the full package to be delivered by September as well as significant progress in the implementation of the 2014 deliverables. In Brisbane, political leadership has unlocked progress to address the issue of patent boxes. All the countries have now joined the consensus on the modified nexus approach. Business can also move into a more certain tax environment, with agreement reached on the application of key country by country reporting requirements through a government to government exchange mechanism. Looking ahead, the holistic package of measures to address BEPS will require an effective implementation approach and the framework for negotiating a multilateral instrument that will be capable of efficiently updating the international network of more than 3 000 tax treaties, has been agreed and is now presented. It indicates how consistent implementation of the measures will be key to the success of addressing base erosion and profit shifting in the future.