IRS to probe multinational companies on an international level

Commissioner of the IRS, the US government agency responsible for tax collection and tax law enforcement, said that the audit of multinational companies by the agency should be conducted jointly with other countries.

"We have begun a dialogue to take international cooperation to the next level," Douglas Shulman told. "I believe this should include joint examinations with other nations," he said. The Paris-based organization supports economic growth and world trade. Obviously, informational cooperation is focused primarily on sharing information.

As Shulman noted later, the practice of joint audit has some advantages, such as decrease of “burden on businesses and individuals trying to comply with the law, and help tax authorities consistently enforce the tax law on a global basis”.

Increase in number of foreign tax-evasion cases during last two years has as a consequence increase of some countries tax-enforcement efforts with other countries.

USA insisting they will provide for enhanced record-sharing in order to reinforce a network of global tax treaties. The US is also cooperating with Canada, Australia, Japan and the UK authorities in order to share information about tax shelters and banks, lawyers, accountants that promote them.

The proposal, discussed by Shulman, will require coordination between IRS agents and their counterparts at revenue agencies in other countries during conducting audit in multinational companies. It is necessary to resolve some issues that can arise in cross-border transactions.