A thread on the international tax staff President Biden is building at the US Treasury.

As someone who studies how states and individuals influence global tax negotiations, I find it very interesting:

For brief context: A new global tax deal has been negotiated for years at the G20 and OECD. It has two aims: To agree new rules for taxing Big Tech. And to develop a global minimum corporate tax system. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/07/18/europe-is-targeting-big-tech-with-new-taxes-its-straining-transatlantic-alliance/

It has been contentious, not least because of US objections over unfair treatment of Apple, Facebook etc. abroad. It’s a showdown - and the G20 has set a 2021 deadline. Tariffs are ready, a global trade war on the cards if negotiations fail. https://rooseveltinstitute.org/2019/12/10/the-future-of-global-corporate-taxation-is-more-uncertain-than-ever/

So, it’s critical a Biden admin seeking progressive global cooperation engages - constructively, successfully and quickly. And Biden’s building an international tax team at the Treasury that can do just that.

At the ‘front end’, the US officials most directly involved in negotiations at the OECD have deep, context-specific expertise and strong networks in the negotiating community. https://twitter.com/phdskat/status/1355064187937038336?s=20

This is exactly the types of resources and relations needed at the personal and professional level to successfully influence these discussions: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/glob.12269

At the ‘back end’, Biden has packed staff with leading international tax academics, excellent researchers with a record of principled policy views on ongoing discussions. https://twitter.com/phdskat/status/1356335943356194819?s=20

Historically, these positions have often been reserved for professionals with more corporate or government experience than academic. But Clausing has been prolific writing on profit shifting, Grinberg on the principles of OECD international tax standards, Kysar on tax treaties.

Biden´s recruitment ensures both strong intellectual foundations and a high expert capacity for US influence in global negotiations, which I think will prove important in the current era - as it has historically.

/ends

https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1616&context=facpub