Base Erosion and Profit Shifting: A spotlight on the tourism sector

Base Erosion and Profit Shifting: A Spotlight on the Tourism Sector

28 July 2023 • 13:00-16:30 CEST

The Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Secretariat is organising a virtual event to discuss the issues associated with base erosion and profit sharing, primarily caused by large multinational enterprises (MNEs). It will bring together senior-level officials and experts from international organisations and tax administrations to understand and discuss the international and transfer pricing risks in the tourism sector, as well as the experiences of Host Administrations.

Tourism can create mass revenues for developing countries, that contribute significantly to their GDP. However, this revenue and the tax base of this sector are often undermined by multinational enterprises, who shift their profits to other, low-tax jurisdictions. To complicate matters, these challenges were exacerbated by the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with lockdowns restricting the movement of tourists in tourism-dependent jurisdictions.

As such, countries require assistance to better understand the business models and value chains used by these MNEs. In particular, there is a need to build audit capacity by providing industry information to developing countries' tax administrations to support the implementation, enforcement and voluntary compliance in relation to transfer pricing rules and international taxation, as well as identifying and effectively addressing aggressive tax planning arrangements.

TIWB builds the capacities of tax administrations in developing countries in the area of tax audits of multinational enterprises. This virtual event will allow participants to discuss BEPS challenges in the tourism sector and share experiences with administrations that have benefitted from TIWB programmes.

This virtual workshop will take place on 28 July 2023 from 13:00-16:30 CEST via videoconference on Zoom. Open to tax administration officials and TIWB partners, participants are required to register by or before Friday, 21 July 2023.

DRAFT Agenda

13:00 – 13:10 | Opening remarks and setting the stage

13:10 – 13:20 | Importance of the tourism sector for economic development

13:20 – 13:55 | The tourism value chain

13:55 – 14:15 | Break

14:15 – 15:15 | Case Study 1

15:15 – 16:15 | Case Study 2

16:15 – 16:30 | Wrap up

FURTHER INFORMATION