The vast majority of businesses would welcome more global cooperation and guidance from tax authorities on what is acceptable for tax planning even if this provides less opportunity to reduce tax liabilities across borders, notes the latest Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR).
The IBR, a quarterly survey of more than 3,000 businesses in 44 countries, found that globally, 68% of businesses would like more tax guidance.
However, there was a marked divergence between regions, with 75% of euro-zone businesses eager for more guidance compared with just 54% of their North American counterparts.
Thailand clocked in at 74%, reflecting the higher Asean average of 86%, while 85% of Latin American businesses will likely look for advice compared with 67% of their Asia-Pacific peers.
"Reducing liabilities across borders can offer significant tax savings, so it is interesting to see how open business leaders are to improving guidance and global cooperation. There were recent high-profile cases involving Amazon, Google and Starbucks that certainly sharpened public opinion as to what is acceptable tax planning. As the Asean Economic Community draws closer and regional supply chains mature, this will become increasingly relevant in our region," said Edward Strauss, a partner in Grant Thornton Thailand's tax consulting wing.
Global bosses were more critical than Thai business leaders of what the tax regimes in their economies are set up to achieve, with just 31% globally saying their local tax laws and policies are geared to stimulate economic growth.
In Thailand that figure was 58%, still short of the Asean average of 70%.
Senior executives in Southern Europe averaged 11%, while in Latin America only 23% approved how their tax dollars are being spent.
Some 49% of business leaders globally and 46% in Asean believe their current tax regime does not bring enough economic participants into the tax base.
In Thailand that figure was 30%, which while lower than in other regions, still suggests about one-third of businesses would like to see a broader tax base in Thailand.
Thailand is in the top 10 of countries that believe their tax regimes are redistributing wealth efficiently, with only 10% of businesses disagreeing with that statement. This differed greatly from Asean at 39%, while globally only 41% of businesses believed their tax regimes are heavily weighted against the redistribution of wealth.
"Many mature economies around the world are undergoing severe fiscal retrenchment, and business leaders are seeing taxes rise even as growth remains flat. The good news in Thailand is businesses are broadly supportive of the way that taxes are distributed and spent. With the reduction in the corporate tax rate coupled with reasonable growth, we are fortunately in a very different position," said Mr Strauss
