I redditi "nomadi" delle società multinazionali nell'economia globalizzata

This paper focuses on the taxation of multinational enterprises’ (MNEs’) “nomadic” income. Aggressive tax planning techniques aimed to reduce the global tax burden of the MNEs – by shifting profits to low tax jurisdictions, or taking deductions in high-tax countries etc. – are not new. Artificial arrangements between parent and subsidiaries regarding intercompany pricing, the transfer of patent licensing rights, the hybrid situations or the abuse of thin-capitalization rules have all been well known instruments used to maximize the accumulation of profits in tax havens. However, in the age of globalization, the open economy features – as the free movement of capital, technological and telecommunication innovation developments, and the increasing importance of services, intangibles and digital transactions – facilitate the exploitation of these strategies, producing macroscopic scale-up effects of tax revenue erosion. Moreover, the international tax system, devised in the early 20th century – when foreign direct investment was largely a “brick and mortar” business – is outdated. Core concepts as “permanent establishment” and corporate residence” still refer to a “material” world, while in the new economy of the 21st century business activities may often be divorced from specific locations and physical presence. As a consequence, this framework has enabled the profit shifting by the detachment of tax location from the location of business activity. In particular, high-value unique intangible assets – easy to move and hard to value using the arm’s length standard – have a central role as profit drivers. The increasing globally integration of MNEs and the growing volumes of intragroup trade make these difficulties a significant fiscal problem. Recently, the economic and fiscal crisis has created a new climate regarding the fight against international tax avoidance and tax evasion by MNEs. A number of actions has been undertaken by national governments in order to protect their much-needed revenue. However, also multilateral instruments are necessary to address global economy’s issues in a coordinated and comprehensive manner. Among the different international institutions (G20, EU, UN, OECD, IMF), many initiatives are under discussion, as the OECD Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and the EU Action Plan to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion.