Tax Matters: Trends in tax disputes – what should businesses be aware of?

The Freshfields Podcast

Back in October, the global Freshfields Tax team published the Tax investigations and disputes across borders guide which, among other things, provided an overview of current trends in corporate tax disputes and gave some predictions for the future.

In our latest podcast, London Tax partner Sarah Bond, Düsseldorf Tax partner Philipp Redeker and London Tax knowledge lawyer Laura Western explore these points in more detail, including:

• The increased scrutiny of cross-border structures and arrangements, with tax authorities using a variety of tax rules (including anti-avoidance provisions) to do so;
• Transfer pricing disputes becoming more common and more difficult to resolve, with this becoming an 'evergreen' contentious tax trend;
• The multitude of jurisdiction-specific trends in domestic tax disputes, including challenging partnerships with mixed members or salaried members in the UK and auditing management participation programmes in Germany;
• Tax authorities across the globe adopting more aggressive approaches than they historically have done, both in terms of the position taken and the penalties imposed;
• The variety of settlement options in different jurisdictions, and the increased likelihood of taxpayers considering litigation if a negotiated outcome is not forthcoming; and
• The potential impact of tax transparency measures and developments in technology on tax disputes in the years ahead.