Luisa Scarcella

Luisa Scarcella articulated the business community’s central demand, i.e., tax certainty and predictability. Businesses seek clarity on which rules apply, predictable tax burdens, and mechanisms that prevent disputes so companies can focus on investment and operations, rather than protracted litigation or compliance complexity. She emphasized that the ICC worries that parallel or overlapping rules across OECD and UN tracks could multiply compliance burdens and produce conflicting obligations. She raised specific concerns about the current UN drafting, in particular, Article 4’s potential to expand source taxation which may open the door to double or multiple taxation if relief mechanisms are not clearly and robustly embedded. She also cautioned that some UN protocols, such as, rules covering cross-border services need proper economic impact assessment as they risk unintended negative consequences for trade and investment. Thus, economic impact assessments must accompany rule-making. From the ICC’s perspective, multilateral, tested solutions are preferable to unilateral measures; dispute prevention and a strengthened MAP process (and workable options on arbitration) are also priorities. While welcoming efforts on prevention and on optional dispute-resolution mechanisms, she stressed on the need to reconcile business concerns, ensure compatibility between regimes, and protect taxpayers from overlapping or conflicting obligations.