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Budget Resolution Tax Provisions Contain Reprisal Tax Aimed at O.E.C.D. Proposals

Budget Resolution Tax Provisions Contain Reprisal Tax Aimed at O.E.C.D. Proposals

On Friday, May 22, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a budget resolution containing provisions that would impose increased taxes for persons based in countries that impose taxes found to discriminate against U.S. companies or their subsidiaries. If a country is determined to have “crossed the line,” residents of that country and their subsidiaries would face up to a 20% increase in withholding taxes on U.S. source investment income, income taxes on income that is effectively connected to the conduct of a U.S. trade or business, and certain other taxes. In his article, Stanley C. Ruchelman lists the foreign persons that will be subject to the reprisal tax, the tax regimes that are expressly targeted, the implementation schedule, and the taxes that will be increased.

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Austria, France, and Italy to Introduce Digital Services Taxes

Austria, France, and Italy to Introduce Digital Services Taxes

A limerick that is popular among members of the U.S. Congressional tax writing committees sheds wisdom on the development of tax policy:  “Don’t tax you.  Don’t tax me.  Tax the person behind the tree.”  Several countries in Europe have taken the rhyme to heart in developing unilateral digital services taxes designed to impose tax on extra-territorial activity of out-of-country companies.  The issue, as Austria, France, and Italy see it, is that these companies make huge profits in Europe but pay no tax there, while payments for digital services are often tax deductible in the countries where the services are used.  According to proponents such as Austria, it is only fair to tax those profits on a destination basis.  Benjamin Twardosz of CHSH Attorneys-at-Law, Vienna, explains the various proposals under consideration.

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