【特别关注】拜登政府能否协调GILTI和GloBE？（中英对照）

李威03

【特别关注】拜登政府能否协调GILTI和GloBE？（中英对照）
TPPERSON按：OECD在2021年7月1日《关于应对数字经济带来的税收挑战的双支柱解决方案的声明》之支柱二中提出“GloBE与GILTI的共存”：支柱二同意将在司法管辖权的基础上适用最低税率。在这种情况下，将考虑美国GILTI 制度与GloBE规则共存的条件，以确保公平的竞争环境。因此，思迈特财税咨询的TP团队特翻译该篇《拜登政府能否协调GILTI和GloBE？》分享同学们。

Can GILTI and the GloBE be harmonized in a Biden administration?
拜登政府能否协调GILTI和GloBE？
来源：MNE Tax March 3, 2021
作者：By Daniel Bunn, Tax Foundation, Washington, DC
Countries participating in the OECD Inclusive Framework’s negotiations on cross-border tax rules hope to reach an agreement by mid-2021. After negotiations stalled somewhat in 2020, there is hope that US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s commitment to reaching an agreement will allow progress to be made this year.
参与经合组织（OECD） 包容性框架（IF）跨境税收谈判的国家希望在2021年年中达成协议。该谈判在2020年陷入停滞之后，美国财政部长珍妮特·耶伦( Janet Yellen )对达成协议的承诺有望在今年取得进展。
One piece in the negotiations is the proposal for a global minimum tax. As part of the 2017 tax reform, the US adopted a tax on global intangible low tax income (GILTI), a sort of minimum tax on the foreign earnings of US companies.
谈判的一项内容是全球最低税率的提案。作为2017年税改的一部分，美国对全球无形资产低税收入（以下简称“GILTI”）征税，这是对美国公司海外收入征收的一种最低税。
GILTI has inspired policymakers in other countries to look for ways to reach an agreement on a global version of GILTI. A detailed outline for such a proposal, the global anti-base erosion (GloBE) rules, was released in October 2020.
GILTI激励其他国家的政策制定者寻求就全球版的 GILTI 达成协议。2020年10月发布了这一提案的详细大纲，即全球反税基侵蚀（以下简称“GloBE”）规则。
The goal of the Inclusive Framework’s negotiations on GloBE is to reach an agreement that would minimize differences in taxing cross-border income. However, the US negotiating position in the recent past has been to ask that GILTI be an approved minimum tax regime rather than to amend US rules to conform to the GloBE.
IF关于 GloBE谈判的目标是达成一项协议，将跨境收入征税的差异降至最低。然而，美国最近的谈判立场是，要求GILTI成为一种获批准的最低税收制度，而不是修改美国规则以符合GloBE的要求。
This is a critical point because GILTI and the GloBE have some differences. These include differences both in the tax rate and the tax base—two important features of any tax policy. Those differences could increase if the proposals that President Biden made during his campaign were to become part of US law.
这是一个关键点，因为GILTI和GloBE有所不同，这包括税率和税基的差异，这是任何税收政策的两个重要特征。如果拜登总统在竞选期间提出的建议成为美国法律的一部分，这些分歧可能会增加。
Despite the differences, policymakers should recognize the complexities and economic costs of imposing broad minimum taxes on cross-border earnings.
尽管存在分歧，但决策者应认识到对跨境所得征收广泛的最低税的复杂性和经济成本。
GILTI and its problems
GILTI 及其问题
GILTI can be defined as a US businesses’ foreign income that is subject to US tax on an annual basis. It is a new class of foreign income introduced by the 2017 tax reform legislation.
GILTI可以被定义为美国公司每年须向美国纳税的海外收入。这是2017年税改立法引入的一种新的外国收入类型。
The calculation for GILTI includes net tested income and a deduction for 10 percent of depreciable tangible assets. The tax on GILTI applies after a 50 percent deduction, leading to a 10.5 percent effective tax rate on GILTI (half the US corporate tax rate of 21 percent). The 10.5 percent rate arises in the absence of foreign taxes paid on earnings included in GILTI.
GILTI的计算包括测试净收入和扣除10%的可折旧有形资产。GILTI的税收是在扣除50%后征收的，导致GILTI的实际税率为10.5%，相当于美国公司税率（21%）的一半。10.5%的税率是在没有为GILTI包含的所得支付外国税款的情况下产生的。
The 10 percent deduction for depreciable tangible assets is a formulaic approach to a substance-based carveout. Because it is based on tangible assets, services companies with less physical capital involved in foreign markets will have a smaller deduction and be more likely to be caught by GILTI. Additionally, companies with very long-lived assets whose current depreciable value is minimal will also likely be caught by GILTI.
可折旧有形资产的10%扣除是一种基于实质经营活动的固定回报。由于它是以有形资产为基础的，在外国市场上拥有较少实物资产的服务公司将得到较小的扣除，也更有可能被GILTI纳入征管范围。此外，拥有长期资产且当前折旧价值很小的公司也可能被 GILTI纳入征管范围。
Many countries have rules that tax foreign earnings of multinationals. However, those rules regularly draw a line between active and passive earnings. The formulaic substance-based carveout in GILTI results in a much broader tax base than a tax on passive earnings. In fact, the US rules for Subpart F already tax passive earnings of US multinationals, suggesting that the GILTI tax base is much broader than passive earnings.
许多国家都有对跨国公司的海外收益征税的规定。不过，这些规则通常会在积极所得和消极所得之间划清界限。GILTI以实质经营活动的固定回报作为扣除比例导致了一个比对消极所得征税更广泛的税基。事实上，美国针对Subpart F的规定已经对美国跨国公司的消极所得征税，这表明GILTI的税基要比消极所得广泛得多。
If a US company has paid foreign taxes on earnings covered by GILTI, the tax liability calculation gets complicated. Foreign tax credits applicable to GILTI are limited in two ways. First, they are limited to 80 percent of their value. Second, they are limited by standard US rules for foreign tax credits, which include requirements to allocate some domestic expenses to foreign earnings, reducing the value of applicable foreign tax credits.
如果一家美国公司已经就GILTI覆盖的收入缴纳了外国税款，那么纳税义务的计算就会变得复杂。适用于GILTI的外国税收抵免有两方面的限制。首先，它们的价值被限制在80%。其次，它们受到美国有关外国税收抵免的标准规则的限制，其中包括要求将部分国内费用分配给外国收入，从而降低适用的外国税额抵免的价值。
Both limits lead to extra US tax on foreign earnings that may have already been taxed (in some cases at relatively high rates). This means taxes on GILTI result in double taxation in some cases.
这两种限制都会导致美国对可能已经征税的外国收入征收额外的税款（在某些情况下税率相对较高），这意味着对 GILTI 征税在某些情况下会导致双重征税。
In theory, if a company has foreign tax credits to apply to GILTI, the effective tax rate could rise to 13.125 percent. However, expense allocation can cause effective rates on GILTI to be much higher than 13.125.
从理论上讲，如果一家公司将外国税收抵免适用于GILTI，那么实际税率可能会升至13.125%。然而，费用分配可能会导致GILTI的有效税率远远高于13.125。
Regulations were implemented in 2020 to exclude some highly taxed foreign earnings from GILTI. The high-tax exclusion rules address part of the problem caused by the interplay between expense allocation and GILTI. Highly taxed foreign earnings are defined as those taxed above 18.9 percent (90 percent of the US corporate rate of 21 percent).
2020年实施的法规将一些高税收的外国收入排除在GILTI之外。高税收豁免规则解决了部分由费用分配和GILTI相互作用引起的问题。高税收的外国收入被定义为税率超过18.9%(美国公司税率21%的90%)。
GILTI also does not allow excess foreign tax credits to be carried forward. This means that GILTI liability will be volatile for many companies that have high foreign taxes in some profitable years and losses in other years. This contributes to the uncertainty that companies face in understanding the taxes they would owe on any given foreign investment.
GILTI也不允许结转的超额外国税收抵免。这意味着，对于许多在某些盈利年份缴纳高额外国税收、在其他年份亏损的公司来说，GILTI的负债将是不确定的。这加剧了企业在了解它们对任何外国投资应缴纳的税款时所面临的不确定性。
GILTI is also calculated on a worldwide, blended basis rather than by jurisdiction. This means companies can mix high-tax earnings with low-tax earnings when calculating GILTI.
GILTI也是在全球范围内混合计算的，而不是按司法管辖区计算。这意味着，在计算GILTI时，企业可以将高税收收入与低税收收入相结合。
Additionally, GILTI has some scheduled changes which will cause the effective rates on foreign earnings to rise after 2025.
此外，GILTI还计划进行一些调整，这将导致2025年后外国收入的实际税率上升。
  
The GloBE and a different approach to minimum taxation
GloBE和一种不同的最低税收方法
In contrast, the OECD Inclusive Framework proposal for the GloBE is designed with the goal of eliminating double taxation of cross-border earnings. While there are several parts of the policy that are subject to further discussion and agreement, GloBE is expected to be different from GILTI in several ways.
与此相反，经合组织IF关于GloBE提案旨在消除对跨境收入的双重征税。虽然该政策有几个部分有待进一步讨论和达成协议，但预计GloBE将在几个方面与GILTI不同。
The GloBE’s income inclusion rule is designed to be a top-up tax on foreign earnings of companies. If a company is paying taxes at a 10 percent effective rate on its foreign earnings and the minimum rate is 12.5 percent, then the country where that company is headquartered could tax the 2.5 percentage-point difference between the minimum and the effective rate.
  GloBE的所得纳入规则(IIR)旨在对公司的外国收入征收补足税。如果一家公司对其外国收入按10%的实际税率纳税，而最低税率为12.5%，那么该公司总部所在国家或地区可以对最低税率和实际税率之间2.5个百分点的差额征税。
The tax base for the GloBE is based on profits reported on a business’s financial statements. Because of the difference between financial profits and taxable profits, a variety of adjustments are proposed to make financial profits look more like taxable profits.
  GloBE的税基是基于企业财务报表中的利润。由于财务利润和应税利润之间的差异，建议进行各种调整，使财务利润看起来更像应税利润。
The economic impact assessment of the GloBE utilized minimum tax rates between 7.5 percent and 17.5 percent. Without a political agreement, though, it is uncertain where exactly the GloBE minimum rate would fall.
对 GloBE的经济影响评估采用的最低税率在7.5%至17.5%之间。然而，在没有达成政治协议的情况下，全球范围内的最低税率究竟会降至何处还不确定。
The GloBE proposal has a broad, formulaic carveout for economic substance that includes depreciable tangible assets (similar to GILTI) and payroll costs. This would likely be a broader tax base than would result from rules that define and tax passive foreign income, but the tax base for the GloBE would be narrower than GILTI.
GloBE 提案对实质经营活动固定回报的扣除制定了一个公式，其范围广泛，包括可折旧有形资产（类似于 GILTI）和工资成本等。这可能是一个比定义外国消极所得征税的规则所产生的税基更广泛，但GloBE的税基将比GILTI更窄。
The OECD Inclusive Framework proposal would also allow carryover of excess foreign taxes to ensure that the taxes applied under GloBE recognize profitability and taxation over time. This is intended to help minimize tax burden volatility for companies subject to GloBE.
OECD 包容性框架的提案还将允许结转多余的外国税收，以确保 GloBE适用的税收方案承认盈利能力和长期征税。这是为了帮助受 GloBE约束的公司减少税务负担的波动。
The GloBE is expected to apply on a jurisdictional basis rather than allow for worldwide blending of foreign earnings. This could be subject to change as negotiations progress, but jurisdictional calculations for GloBE seem likely.
GloBE预计将根据司法管辖区内适用，而不是允许在全球范围内混合外国收入。随着谈判的进展，这可能会发生变化，但GloBE的司法管辖区的计算似乎是有可能的。
  
The Biden and Yellen approach on GILTI
拜登和耶伦在GILTI上的态度
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has commented that the US administration’s goal is to have an effective minimum tax agreed to at the global level.
财政部长珍妮特·耶伦发表评论称，美国政府的目标是在全球层面达成一个有效的最低税率。
It is unclear how this view will work out in the ongoing negotiations over the GloBE because GILTI and the GloBE have significant differences. Two policy proposals from President Biden’s campaign regarding GILTI would increase those differences, while another would create some alignment.
由于GILTI和GloBE存在显着差异，因此目前尚不清楚这种观点将如何在正在进行的 GloBE 谈判中发挥作用。拜登总统竞选活动中关于 GILTI 的两项政策提案将扩大这些分歧，而另一项提案将形成某种一致性。
First, the Biden campaign recommended raising the GILTI rate to 21 percent, a rate that is much higher than what has been expected for the GloBE.
首先，拜登的竞选团队建议将GILTI的税率提高到21%，这一税率远远高于此前对GloBE的预期。
Even beyond the Biden campaign’s approach, the rate on GILTI is set to rise after 2025 under current law (16.4 percent), and Biden’s separate proposal to raise the US corporate tax rate to 28 percent would have a knock-on effect for the high-tax exclusion.
即使超出了拜登竞选团队的做法，根据现行法律，GILTI的税率也将在2025年后提高(16.4%)，而拜登单独提出的将美国公司税率提高到28%的建议将对高税收豁免产生连锁反应。
Second, the Biden campaign and some congressional Democrats have recommended removing GILTI’s formulaic substance carveout, broadening the GILTI tax base even beyond the current breadth.
其次，拜登的竞选团队和一些国会民主党人建议取消GILTI实质经营活动固定回报的扣除，将GILTI的税基扩大到甚至超过目前的范围。
These proposals are couched in the argument that the substance carveout in GILTI paired with the lower rate will cause offshoring. This argument is flawed for several reasons, including the very low likelihood that a company would increase its foreign tangible assets simply to minimize its exposure to tax on GILTI.
这些提议是在这样一种论点中提出的：GILTI的实质经营活动固定回报扣除加上较低的税率将导致离岸外包。这种说法存在缺陷，原因有几个，包括公司增加其外国有形资产的可能性非常低，只是为了尽量减少其对 GILTI 的税收风险。
The one area where the Biden campaign’s approach on GILTI and GloBE is in line is on jurisdictional calculations.
拜登竞选团队对GILTI和GloBE采取一致做法的一个领域是司法管辖区的计算。
Jurisdictional calculations will likely mean serious compliance challenges because business units are not commonly arranged based on country borders. Foreign business units may include subsidiaries and earnings in multiple jurisdictions.
司法管辖区的计算可能意味着严重的合规挑战，因为业务部门通常不是基于国家边界安排的。外国业务部门可能包括在多个司法管辖区的子公司和收益。
To comply with jurisdictional blending requirements, companies would need to significantly adjust their bookkeeping to align with the burden of jurisdictional calculations for taxation.
为了满足司法管辖区混合的要求，公司需要大幅调整其账簿，以适应司法管辖区计算的税收负担。
Misalignment on the rate and the substance carveout and alignment on jurisdictional calculations still leaves several other open questions on how the two policies might converge or remain distinct.
在税率、实质经营活动固定回报扣除和司法管辖区计算上的不一致，仍然留下了其他几个悬而未决的问题，即两项政策如何趋同或保持不同。
The remaining differences relate to foreign tax credits. On the issues of expense allocation, carryovers of foreign tax credits, and the 20 percent haircut on foreign tax credits, GILTI is not aligned with GloBE. Each of these foreign tax credit problems with GILTI can lead to double taxation, and, if nothing else, GILTI should be reformed in ways that follow the GloBE’s aspiration to avoid double taxation.
其余的差异与外国税收抵免有关。在费用分配、外国税收抵免的结转以及外国税收抵免20%的扣减等问题上，GILTI与GloBE并不一致。GILTI 的这些外国税收抵免问题中的每一个都可能导致双重征税。如果不出意外，GILTI应该按照GloBE避免双重征税的愿望进行改革。
  
Harmonization or divergence?
协调或分歧?
GILTI has underlying problems that directly contribute to double taxation. On those issues, lessons from the GloBE should inform policymakers.
GILTI存在直接导致双重征税的潜在问题。在这些问题上，GloBE的经验教训应该为政策制定者提供参考。
In areas where the Biden campaign recommended changes to GILTI, the proposals would make GILTI even more distinct from the GloBE. The one thing the two approaches share is the jurisdictional approach to taxation, and that, by itself, is likely to be a heavy compliance burden on businesses.
在拜登竞选团队建议修改GILTI的领域，这些提案将使GILTI与GloBE更加不同。这两种方法的共同之处在于对司法管辖区进行征税，而这本身就可能给企业带来沉重的合规负担。
If GILTI and the GloBE are to be harmonized, there is clearly lots of work to do. Policymakers in the US and other OECD Inclusive Framework countries should focus on minimizing compliance burdens and the economic costs that will be associated with a broad-based minimum tax on cross-border earnings.
如果GILTI和GloBE要实现协调，显然还有很多工作要做。美国和其他OECD包容性框架成员国的政策制定者应把重点放在尽量减少合规负担，以及对跨境收入实行广泛的最低税率所带来的经济成本。
  

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