The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the Act) brought sweeping changes to the international tax landscape, including the transfer pricing arena. Intangible property is at the core of many of these changes. The impact of the new provisions generally furthers the trend of transfer pricing becoming more prescriptive. It places additional strain on and creates potential contradictions with the arm’s length standard. It may have the unintended consequence of creating double-taxation for U.S. Multinationals (MNCs) – situations in which U.S. MNCs may be taxed more than once on the same income. So while the Act lowered the headline tax rate to 21 percent, it also broadened the tax base. As a result, the effect of the Act on each company’s tax bill will be determined by the company’s specific facts and circumstances.
Our alliance in the USA published a blog on this subject last Friday. To read the full text, please click here.