International taxes

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has agreed on a new framework that will allow all interested countries and jurisdictions to participate in drawing up international tax rules.

The Treasury Department has issued a newly revised U.S. Model Income Tax Convention to provide the baseline text it will use when negotiating tax treaties with other countries. It was last updated in 2006.

Google saved $2.4 billion in worldwide taxes in 2014 by shifting 10.7 billion euros ($12 billion) in international revenues to a Bermuda shell company, Alphabet Inc., the parent of the Web-search provider, regulatory filings show.

Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea has become the latest multinational company to be accused of dodging taxes.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has reportedly fired off a letter to officials in the European Union complaining about recent tax investigations of U.S.-based multinationals like Apple, McDonald’s, Amazon and Starbucks.

Two client advisers from Julius Baer Group Ltd. accused of helping Americans evade taxes are expected to plead guilty in New York on Thursday, when the Swiss bank will resolve its own criminal case by agreeing to pay $547 million, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Starting February 16, the Internal Revenue Service will begin accepting requests for bilateral advance pricing agreements between the U.S. and India for the taxation of multinational companies.

After three years and $1.37 billion in penalties, the U.S. is ending a disclosure program that forced Swiss banks to reveal all the secret ways they helped Americans evade taxes.

European Union competition chief Margrethe Vestager said Thursday morning she’s ready to investigate Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s 130 million-pound ($185.5 million) tax deal with the U.K. if there are complaints. It didn’t take long for the first to surface.

Companies shouldn’t be able to get away with paying very low taxes—or none at all—in countries where they earn profits, EU Economic Affairs and Tax Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said as he introduced a package of proposals designed to curb tax evasion.

Johnson Controls Inc., already exiting the auto-industry’s supply chain after decades as a key player, is now seeking to shed its U.S. corporate citizenship in a multibillion-dollar tie-up with Tyco International Plc.

Google parent Alphabet Inc. has agreed to pay 130 million pounds ($185 million) in a tax settlement with U.K. authorities, setting off a backlash as opposition politicians questioned the government’s handling of the case.

Apple Inc. is pushing back against a European tax investigation that could force the iPhone maker to pay more than $8 billion in back taxes.

Perhaps the only consensus in U.S. politics is that the Byzantine and loophole-riddled corporate tax code needs reform.

Tax havens are partly to blame for the rising level of income inequality, according to a new report from Oxfam America.

European Union lawmakers said governments that give multibillion-euro tax subsidies to big companies shouldn’t get to pocket the money themselves if regulators order them to claw back illegal state aid.

Apple Inc. may be facing a hefty tax bill in Europe.

Bloomberg BNA is releasing its annual report on the year ahead in tax and accounting, containing a collection of over 20 articles from its reporters on the outlook for tax legislation, international taxation, state taxes, Supreme Court tax cases, accounting standards and other topics.

The European Union ordered Belgium to recover about 700 million euros ($762 million) in illegal tax breaks given to at least 35 companies, including Anheuser-Busch InBev NVand BP Plc, as regulators continued a crackdown on overly generous tax schemes throughout the 28-nation bloc.

The Swiss bank used by the convicted con man known as “The Wolf of Wall Street” agreed to pay almost $188 million to avoid prosecution for helping U.S. clients avoid taxes through such methods as providing untraceable gold bars and cash.