OECD Public Consultation on Global Mobility: Business Calls for Simplicity, Certainty, and Consistent Rules

Business at OECD participated in the OECD Public Consultation on Global Mobility on 20 January underscoring the growing relevance of global mobility issues in an increasingly flexible and digital work environment. The consultation explored economic trends and policy challenges arising from cross border remote working, covering corporate and personal income tax, social security, labour law, and the taxation of new work models such as digital nomads and the gig economy.

Our Tax Committee Co-Chair and Siemens' Christian Kaeser chaired the session on corporate income tax, where he was joined by our Tax Committee Vice-Chair and ZF Group's Werner Stuffer, and other business and policy experts. The discussion focused on remaining corporate income tax issues linked to global mobility, including the circumstances under which permanent establishments may be created, the associated administrative burdens and risks for multinational enterprises, and transfer pricing implications. Participants welcomed the recently published OECD commentary on fixed places of business in the context of home offices as an important first step, while acknowledging that further clarification will be required as temporary and longer term cross border remote working continues to expand.

Werner Stuffer also contributed to the session on taxation of employment income highlighting the significant compliance obligations and risks faced by employers, who often act as tax collecting agents rather than taxpayers themselves. From a business perspective, simplicity, legal certainty, and globally consistent rules were emphasised as essential to managing global mobility in practice. Discussions at the consultation highlight the need for holistic and coordinated policy approaches, stressing the importance of developing pragmatic interim measures to address the most pressing challenges faced by employers and employees today. Going forward taxation and mobile work will continue to be a priority issue for our Tax Committee.