多国籍企業 課税逃れ防止ルールの徹底を

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Rules on tax-dodging multinationals must be thoroughly implemented
多国籍企業　課税逃れ防止ルールの徹底を

International cooperation must be bolstered to close tax loopholes that can be exploited by multinational business corporations.
　企業課税の抜け道を塞ぐため、税制面での国際協調を強めるべきだ。

The Group of 20 major economies and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have worked out new international taxation rules to clamp down on the excessive tax avoidance tactics by multinational firms.
　主要２０か国・地域（Ｇ２０）と経済協力開発機構（ＯＥＣＤ）が、多国籍企業による行き過ぎた節税に歯止めをかけることを目指し、新たな国際課税ルールを策定した。

The pillar of the new rules is to make it mandatory for multinationals with annual sales of €750 million (about ¥100 billion) or more to report to the tax authorities of their home countries the value of taxes they pay and their lines of business in foreign countries where they operate. The information thus collected is shared by member nations.
　売上高が７億５０００万ユーロ（約１０００億円）以上の企業に対し、国外の進出先での納税額や事業内容について、本国の税務当局への報告を義務づけたのが柱だ。収集した情報は各国で共有する。

A tax penalty will be levied on multinationals if they are found to be involved in the practice of reducing their tax burdens considerably by curbing their profits, through such tactics as exploiting transactions with their subsidiaries operating in other countries.
　他国にある子会社との取引などを利用して利益を圧縮し、税負担を著しく軽減している事実が判明すれば、追徴課税を行う。

Tax revenues lost worldwide due to such tax dodges amount to as much as ¥30 trillion a year, according to an OECD estimate.
　ＯＥＣＤは、課税逃れで失われる世界の税収が、年間で最大３０兆円に上ると推計している。

There has been a series of cases of tax avoidance in recent years committed by multinationals of Europe and the United States that exploited the differences in taxation systems among the countries where they conduct business. Although their practices are not illegal in terms of tax law, a situation cannot be overlooked in which firms posting a huge amount of profits are allowed to pay less than an appropriate amount of taxes.
　欧米の多国籍企業で近年、国ごとの税制の違いを突いた課税逃れが相次いで発覚した。税法上は明確な違法でなくても、莫大ばくだいな利益を上げる企業が、少ない税金しか納めないことは見過ごせない。

In the case of U.S. firms Google Inc. and Starbucks Corp., they are said to have employed such tactics as having their subsidiaries in low-tax countries hold patents and trademarks, with their parent companies paying high royalties to them.
　米国のスターバックスやグーグルは、低税率国の子会社に特許や商標を持たせ、親会社が割高な使用料を払うなどしたという。

Regarding other tactics, they are said to have inflated expenses by paying excessive interest and material procurement costs to related companies in other countries where their subsidiaries operate.
　他国の関連企業に対する過大な利払いや材料費支出で、経費を膨らませた例もあったとされる。

Fairness and justice

Tax avoidance through deals that are considerably removed from authentic corporate activity should not be left unchecked. Such practices shake the fundamental principle of fairness and justice in the taxation system and increase discontent among businesses that pay due taxes.
　企業活動の実態からかけ離れた取引による課税逃れは、放置すべきではない。公平・公正という税制の基本理念が揺らぎ、適切に納税する企業の不満が高まろう。

It is reasonable for the tax authorities of countries concerned to try to comprehend the actual financial conditions of multinationals and aim to prevent them from resorting to excessive tax avoidance tactics.
　各国の税務当局が多国籍企業の経営実態を正確に把握し、過度な節税を抑止する狙いは妥当だ。

Many tax dodging cases involve three or more countries, making it difficult to deal with them under conventional bilateral treaties. New rules are likely to be introduced by more than 40 countries, including Japan, the United States, European nations and China.
　税逃れは３か国以上で行われる例が多く、従来の２国間条約では対処が難しかった。新ルールは、日米欧や中国など４０か国超で導入される見通しである。

It is of no small significance that many industrialized countries and emerging economies, whose tax systems are greatly different from each other, have cooperated to devise the common rules.
　税制が大きく異なる多数の先進国と新興国が連携し、共通のルールを定めた意味は小さくない。

But the new rules are nothing but an agreement by the G-20, and have no binding force. The challenge is how to enhance their practical effectiveness.
　ただ、新ルールはＧ２０の合意事項に過ぎず、強制力がない。いかに実効性を高めるかが課題だ。

Revision of relevant domestic laws and establishment of a multinational agreement in line with the rules must be done promptly.
　ルールに則した国内法の改正と多国間の協定作りを急ぎたい。

If the level of legal compliance differs from country to country, there is concern that it will be exploited by multinationals with the intention of tax avoidance. It is important to establish a system aimed at monitoring each other, to observe such things as how strictly each member nation asks multinationals to submit their business information.
　ルールの順守状況に濃淡があれば、税逃れを意図する企業につけ込まれかねない。各国がどれだけ厳しく企業に経営情報を提供させているか、などを相互に監視する仕組み作りが重要である。

Efforts are also necessary to increase the number of countries introducing the new international taxation rules.
　ルールの導入国をさらに広げる取り組みも欠かせない。

As a check on multinationals that try to devise new ways of tax avoidance, it is essential for the countries concerned to cooperate more closely by exchanging information and revising the rules expeditiously if needed.
　新手の税逃れの手段を次々と考える企業を牽制けんせいするには、各国がより緊密に情報交換し、ルールを機動的に見直すことが大切だ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 16, 2015)