Appendix 10: Tax & Financial Reporting Issues Carrefour Must consider as they Pursue their Global Expansion Strategy
Carrefour's International Tax Liabilities
Labour Tax
'Other' Taxes
Carrefour's Accounting/Financial Department
Transfer Pricing
BEPS
Dividends
Capital Gains
Property Transfer
Financial Transactions
Property
Waste Collection
Vehicle/Road
Small taxes/fees
Transfer Mispricing
Different tax rates per country - Brazil, China, Spain, France, Romania, Taiwan, Argentina & UAE 🚩
Profit/Corporate Income Tax
Must understand different jurisdictional rules
Different reporting times
Tax loophole - a legal practice
Greater public scrutiny - government bodies, media & consumers
Ethically questionable
Potential brand damage 🚩
This technique would save Carrefour money - see implications above ✅ ⛔
Standard legal practice
Accurately recording sales between Carrefour and its subsidiaries
Illegal 🚩
Considered a form of tax evasion
Considered a tax avoidance technique
Carrefour's Ethical Position
OECD's BEPS Project
New international tax reporting
Country-by-country reports
Master files
Local files
New OECD's BEPS Project Implications
Note 4: 'Transfer mispricing’ = artificially distorting sale prices between internal subsidiaries (Tax Justice Network, 2017).
Note 4
Note 2: 'Base Erosion and Profit Shifting' (BEPS) = Tax loophole exploited and profits artificially shifted to lower/zero tax locations (Tax Justice Network, 2017).
Note 2
Note 3: 'Transfer pricing' = Agreeing a price for a transaction between 2 groups from same company (Tax Justice Network, 2017).
'Arms length' approach?
Note 3
Note 1: 'OECD' = Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Produced 2015 15 BEPS ‘Action’ Plan to help stop tax avoidance (Oliver, 2017)
Note 1
CEO led messaging - strict financial discipline
Pressure from CEO?