Overview
House Passes Final Tax Reform Bill: Today, the House of Representatives passed the conference agreement on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by a vote of 227-203. No Democratic members voted in favor of the bill, and 12 Republicans against the bill. The Senate parliamentarian reportedly has ruled that changes will be required to certain provisions of the bill in order to comply with the Senate rules regarding reconciliation. It is expected that the Senate will pass an amended bill and that the House will hold another vote on the amended bill tomorrow.
OECD 2017 Model Tax Convention Released: Yesterday, the OECD released its Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital for 2017. This latest version of the OECD model tax convention incorporates significant changes developed under the OECD/G20 project to address base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) including Action 2 (neutralizing the effects of hybrid mismatch arrangements), Action 6 (preventing the granting of treaty benefits in inappropriate circumstances), Action 7 (preventing the artificial avoidance of permanent establishment status), and Action 14 (improving dispute resolution).