New Times, New Taxes? Financing State and Welfare in a Globalized World

Replay

Event Summary

The OECD’s Inclusive Framework reached a ground-breaking agreement in July 2021 to reform the rules of international taxation of multinational companies that have been in place for more than a century. The agreement rests on two pillars: Pillar 1 creates new taxing rights for countries, which allocate profits of multinationals based on their activities rather than their location; Pillar 2 introduces a global minimum tax of 15%, aiming at ending a race to the bottom between countries and, at the same time, the use of tax havens by multinationals to lower their tax liabilities.

Implementation of the agreement and the allocation of the expected revenue have been a subject of debate in recent months. Whilst 137 jurisdictions worldwide agreed on the reform, transposition to national law has been impeded by country and party interests. Following months of negotiations, the EU Council has reached an agreement on Pillar 2 in December 2022, which experts hope to cause a cascade effect in other countries, leading to worldwide implementation. Discussions on Pillar 1 have been ongoing, while the final details are being drawn in country negotiations.

In this context SACO and the EU Tax Observatory are co-organising a one-day conference to discuss recent developments, implementation issues and the expected impact of the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 reforms. The conference will focus on the implications for the EU, as well as, for Sweden in particular, especially given its current role as holder of the rotating Presidency of the EU Council. Does the agreement match up to the hype in terms of expected revenue? What would it mean for the economy, for public finances and for multinational companies? What would the implications be for Sweden and what role will it play during its current Presidency of the EU Council? What are the implementation concerns and how to overcome them?

Programme

Part 1: Taxing Multinationals – Implications and the Role of Sweden

8:30am: Registration & Coffee

9:15am: Welcome Address by Göran Arrius (President of Saco)

9:20am: Emil Bustos, Economist at the Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN) presents the Report “New Times, New Taxes”

10am: Panel Discussion with

• • Mikael Damberg – Former Minister of Finance, Vice Chair of the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on Finance and Economical Spokesman for the Swedish Social Democrats
  • Göran Arrius – President of Saco
  • Séverine Picard – Coordinator of the Network of Unions for Tax Justice
  • Edward Riedl – Moderaterna, Chairman of the Swedish Parliament’s Committee on Finance
  • Claes-Mikael Ståhl – Vice General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation ETUC
  • Elinor Odeberg – Chief Economist, Arena Idé

11:30am: Light Lunch

Part 2: Revenue Estimates

12:30pm: Presentation: “Revenue Estimates from the Two-Pillar Proposal” by Mona Barake (EU Tax Observatory)

1pm: Presentation by Pierce O’Reilly (OECD)

1:30pm: Presentation by Shafik Hebous (Deputy Division Chief Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF)

Details

? March 29th, 2022 – 8.30am – 2pm (CET)

?Saco, Stockholm

? The event will be livestreamed on Saco Play.

Registration

To register for the event, please click here.

Acknowledgements

The event is co-funded by the European Union.