Designing a 21st century business profit tax

The Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation has brought together a group of the world’s best economic and legal academics to produce a substantial report, focused on business profit taxation, particularly the issue of companies shifting profit to low-tax jurisdictions.

Recent public disquiet about the (lack of) taxation of profits of multinational companies has prompted the G8, G20 and the OECD to address problems in the international tax system. However, this process has lacked any serious analysis of the fundamental aims and objectives of the taxation of multinational company profit, and in particular where profit should be taxed.

The report will address this omission by developing short- and long-term proposals for reform that will aid and inform governments around the world. The proposals will be based on the group’s extensive research, and detailed consideration of both principle and practice.