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This report includes changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention to prevent treaty abuse. It first addresses treaty shopping through alternative provisions that form part of a minimum standard that all countries participating in the BEPS Project have agreed to implement.  It also includes specific treaty rules to address other forms of treaty abuse and ensures that tax treaties do not inadvertently prevent the application of domestic anti-abuse rules. The report finally includes changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention that clarify that tax treaties are not intended to create opportunities for non-taxation or reduced taxation through tax evasion or avoidance (including through treaty-shopping) and that identify the tax policy considerations that countries should consider before deciding to enter into a tax treaty with another country.

This report sets out recommendations for domestic rules to neutralise the effect of hybrid mismatch arrangements and includes changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention to address such arrangements.  Once translated into domestic law, the recommendations in Part 1 of the report will neutralise the effect of cross-border hybrid mismatch arrangements that produce multiple deductions for a single expense or a deduction in one jurisdiction with no corresponding taxation in the other jurisdiction. Part I of the report sets out recommendations for rules to address hybrid mismatches in respect of payments made under a hybrid financial instrument or payments made to or by a hybrid entity.  It also recommends rules to address indirect mismatches that arise when the effects of a hybrid mismatch arrangement are imported into a third jurisdiction. The recommendations are supported by a commentary and examples to illustrate how they should apply. Part 2 of the report sets out proposed changes to the Model Convention that will ensure the benefits of tax treaties are only granted to hybrid entities (including dual resident entities) in appropriate cases.  Part 2 also considers the interaction between the OECD Model Convention and the domestic law recommendations in Part 1.

The report contains revisions to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines to align transfer pricing outcomes with value creation. The revised guidance focuses on the following key areas: transfer pricing issues relating to transactions involving intangibles; contractual arrangements, including the contractual allocation of risks and corresponding profits, which are not supported by the activities actually carried out; the level of return to funding provided by a capital-rich MNE group member, where that return does not correspond to the level of activity undertaken by the funding company; and other high-risk areas. The report also sets out follow-up work to be carried out on the transactional profit split method which will lead to detailed guidance on the ways in which this method can appropriately be applied to further align transfer pricing outcomes with value creation.

The lack of timely, comprehensive and relevant information on aggressive tax planning strategies is one of the main challenges faced by tax authorities worldwide. Mandatory disclosure regimes can enable countries to quickly respond to tax risks by providing early access to such information. This report includes an overview of mandatory disclosure regimes, based on the experiences of countries that have such regimes, and sets out recommendations for a modular framework for use by countries wishing to implement or amend mandatory disclosure rules in order to obtain early information on aggressive or abusive tax planning schemes and their users. The recommendations provide the necessary flexibility to balance a country’s need for better, more timely information with the compliance burdens for taxpayers. This report also sets out specific recommendations for rules targeting international tax schemes, as well as for the development and implementation of more effective information exchange and co-operation between tax administrations.

This report sets out recommendations in the form of building blocks for effective CFC rules. The recommendations are designed to ensure that jurisdictions that choose to implement them, have rules that effectively prevent taxpayers from shifting income into foreign subsidiaries. The report sets out the following six building blocks for the design of effective CFC rules: (1) definition of a CFC, (2) CFC exemptions and threshold requirements, (3) definition of income, (4) computation of income, (5) attribution of income, and (6) prevention and elimination of double taxation. Because each country prioritises policy objectives differently, the recommendations provide flexibility to implement CFC rules that combat BEPS in a manner consistent with the policy objectives of the overall tax system and the international legal obligations of the country concerned.

Drawing on the expertise of public international law and tax experts, this report explores the technical feasibility to develop a multilateral instrument to modify tax treaties so as to efficiently implement the tax treaty-related BEPS measures. The report concludes that such an instrument is desirable and feasible and that negotiations for the multilateral instrument should be convened quickly. Based on this analysis, a mandate has been developed for an ad-hoc group, open to the participation of all countries on an equal footing, to develop the multilateral instrument and open it for signature in 2016.

This report contains revised standards for transfer pricing documentation incorporating a master file, local file, and a template for country-by-country reporting of revenues, profits, taxes paid and certain measures of economic activity. The revised standardised approach  will require taxpayers to articulate consistent transfer pricing positions and will provide tax administrations with useful information to assess transfer pricing and other BEPS risks, make determinations about where audit resources can most effectively be deployed, and, in the event audits are called for, provide information to commence and target audit enquiries. Country-by-country reports will be disseminated through an automatic government-to-government exchange mechanism. The implementation package included in this report sets out guidance to ensure that the reports are provided in a timely manner, that confidentiality is preserved and that the information is used appropriately, by incorporating model legislation and model Competent Authority Agreements forming the basis for government-to-government exchanges of the reports.