2016年CRI Meeting in Beijing over Tax Evasion

 

As the old saying goes: "There are only two certianties in life - death and taxes."

It's the latter that members of the OECD's Forum¹ on Tax Administration have been meeting about.

The group, which represents around 40-different countries and international organziations, have been working together to try to coordinate² their tax policies so they remain balanced.

Chinese Vice³ Premier⁴ Zhang Gaoli is among those who has taken part in the meetings.

He says by working together on issues surrounding taxes, countries around the world will be able to benefit from a broader increase in the global economy.

"Cooperating with other countries around the world through their various tax structures is important. While we realize that individual countries have the right to protect their own tax structure, we can still work together to root-out tax cheats and help smaller countries increase their enforcement."

One of the big issues discussed during this week's sessions in Beijing is a term tax officials call "BEPS."

"BEPS," or "Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, is when multi-nationals use their status in different countries to get around paying corporate⁵ taxes.

One recent example of a failed attempt at BEPS was the move by US drug maker⁶ Pfizer to try to take over Ireland-based Allergan.

The deal would have been worth around 130-billion US dollars.

It was viewed by most observers as an inversion⁷, where Pfizer would shift its corporate headquarters to Ireland under the takeover, and thereby⁸ be subject to the much lower corporate taxes in Ireland than the company currently has to pay in the United States.

However, US officials stepped in and closed loop-holes, making the deal unpalatable for both companies.

This week's forum in Beijing, the first of its kind to be held in China, has been put-on by the Organisation⁹ for Economic Co-operation and Development.

OECD Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki says by working together through their BEPS working group, countries around the world can might eventually be able to stop multi-nationals from paying their fair-share in taxes.

"If it's left unaddressed, BEPS can cause losses of up to 250 billion US dollars every year in government revenues. Participants in the BEPS project have worked together to ensure the integrity of international tax system, fight tax avoidance, shut down loopholes for tax avoidance and make sure everybody pays a fair share of taxes."

Issues surrounding BEPS and other concerns about international taxation¹⁰ will be part of the agenda at this year's G20 leaders summit set to be held in the city of Hangzhou in September.

For CRI, this is Liu Mohan.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

7 inversion   

n.反向，倒转，倒置

参考例句：

• But sometimes there is an unusual weather condition called a temperature inversion.但有时会有一种被称作“温度逆增”的不平常的天气状态。
• And finally,we made a discussion on the problems in the cooperative inversion.最后，对联合反演中存在的问题进行了讨论。

8 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

9 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

10 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。