2020 Global MNC Tax Complexity Survey

In this summary, we wish to provide an overview of the results of the third Global MNC Tax Complexity Survey, which deals with tax complexity as faced by multinational corporations (MNCs) in 2020.

Since our last survey in 2018, the dynamic tax landscape has remained in flux. On the OECD level, the blue–prints for both Pillar 1 and 2 have given an impression of the major tax changes yet to come. Simultaneously, some countries are still in the process of transforming the recommend–dations of the BEPS final reports from 2015 into national law.

Since we expect these dynamics to affect tax complexity, we decided to examine the OECD countries in more detail (pp. 20–24). For these countries, we present the major changes in tax complexity with a focus on tax audits from 2018 to 2020. We find a decrease in tax complexity with respect to several aspects of the audit process.

Further, to address the continuously growing impact of digitalization on tax systems worldwide, we have included a new analysis in this summary, evaluating the impact of digital technologies on legislative and administrative processes (p. 19).

Since the beginning of our Global MNC Tax Complexity Survey, we have been dedicated to the goals of open science, making our results publicly available via an interactive website (www.taxcomplexity.org). With the publication of this summary, we have relaunched the website with a new, comprehensive design. Besides enabling users to compare countries and creating a customized Tax Complexity Index, the new website also allows for a comparison of countries’ complexity over time.

We hope that you find the results of this summary interesting and useful. We highly appreciate your feedback and comments. Again, we would like to thank all respondents of the Global MNC Tax Complexity Survey, without whom this project would not be possible.