Taxation In Corporate Organization

This assignment seeks to assess your ability to:• Critically evaluate and discuss the major developments during 2017 in corporate taxation from the perspective of multinational companies and their auditors, governments and other stakeholders.• Apply appropriate knowledge, analytical techniques and concepts to problems and issues arising from both familiar and unfamiliar situations;• Think critically, examine problems and issues from a number of perspectives, challenge viewpoints, ideas and concepts and make well-reasoned judgements;• Present, discuss and defend ideas, concepts and views effectively through formal language.Background:In the final weeks of 2017 a leading tax expert suggested that “a whirlwind of international tax changes has swept the globe”. He also went on to say that for companies operating in Europe there is no end in sight to the pace of change. The final recommendations on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) from the OECD have been endorsed by the EU. In fact a number of European governments have already implemented large parts of these proposals ahead of schedule.The third quarter of the year saw the European Commission in the spotlight with its landmark decision that the technology giant Apple must repay no less than €13 billion of taxes to the Irish government. This ruling was based on the view that the favourable tax treatment was effectively state aid and hence the Irish government had broken EU law. At the same time countries across the world continue to compete by reducing the rate of corporate taxes. Many commentators suggest that the UK government will cut the corporate tax rate to 10% if the country fails to negotiate a trade deal with the European Union as part of the Brexit process. In a separate development earlier in the year the government of Hungary announced it would become the tax haven of Central Europe with a plan to reduce corporation tax to a mere 9%.Required:You are to write a report for the Board of Directors of a listed global company that has manufacturing and R&D activities across Europe, Asia, Australasia and America. The report should assume that the directors have detailed knowledge of the group activities but are not taxation specialists. However they would be aware of issues relating to corporate governance, transparency and reputational risks.The report should cover the following aspects:Evaluate the major developments that occurred in corporate taxation in 2017 and the issues that may arise in the current year.Discuss the implications for the group in regard to the relationship with its auditors.Consider how other stakeholders and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) may be affected by changes in the level of corporate taxes and their possible reaction.The resources below are on Blackboard and provide an introduction to the topic.“Corporate tax evasion: tackling Base Erosion and Profit Shifting” by Helen Miller and Thomas Pope of the Institute for Fiscal Studies“Ten Reasons to Defend the Corporation Tax” by the Tax Justice Network“Ending the Era of Tax Havens” March 2017 by Oxfam“Tax Battles” December 2017 by Oxfam“Building Public Trust Through Tax Reporting” November 2017 by PwCThe following points are essential to follow in your report:1. Your report should address and evaluate the issues identified above requirements in a critical way. Good critical evaluation involves (Cottrell, 2005):• identifying a wide range of other people’s opinions, arguments and conclusion;• evaluating the evidence for alternative points of view from different user groups of financial information, such as analysts, investors, stakeholders, accounting bodies, managers, audit firms (mainly big four, if available) and other relevant user groups;• weighing up opposing arguments and evidence fairly;• depth and breadth of reasoning;• accounting for why this happens, why it works or fails, why it is rational or irrational, why something is useful or useless; or good or poor. It is not enough merely to list good or poor points;• examples providing good support for arguments;• drawing conclusions about whether arguments are valid or justifiable, based on good evidence and sensible assumptions.