
Cross-border Tax Talks
PwC specialists share insights and perspectives on key issues impacting the ever-changing tax landscape. Our podcasts aim to provide quick, easy and up-to-date tax developments to help you stay current and competitive in today's challenging business environment. Listen to episodes at your convenience via your desktop computer or smart device.
Latest episodes

Sep 7, 2023 • 39min
Poutine Routine: Canada’s Pillar Two, DSTs, with G(AA)Ravy on top
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) and Ken Buttenham meet up in PwC’s Washington, D.C.. studio. Ken leads PwC Canada’s International Tax Practice from Toronto. Doug and Ken kick off with a discussion on Doug’s favorite Canadian food, then dive into the Canadian Pillar Two proposals, discussing the Global Minimum Tax Act (GMTA), UTPR, IIR, QDMTT, compliance, the GloBE Information Return, and tax incentives. They also cover digital services taxes (DSTs), the excessive interest and financing expenses limitation (EIFEL) rules, and the Canadian General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR).

Aug 22, 2023 • 37min
Pillar Two in Hong Kong SAR: Not yet a sticky wicket?
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) and Jesse Kavanaugh (PwC Hong Kong SAR’s Tax Reporting & Strategy Leader) met up at PwC’s AsiaPac Global Tax Symposium in Singapore. Jesse is an International Tax Partner in Hong Kong SAR and has been leading the region’s Pillar Two tax efforts. They discuss the state of play of Pillar Two in Hong Kong SAR, trends regarding safe harbours and data collection, modeling and calculations challenges, the centralized and decentralized approaches to Pillar Two inherent to the region, and the Hong Kong SAR legislative process. They also touch on the addition of Hong Kong SAR to the EU’s ‘grey list’ and the recent introduction of the Foreign Source Income Exemption (FSIE) Regime for Passive Income.

Aug 14, 2023 • 39min
Pillar Two Administrative Guidance: More details, more questions
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is back at Westminster Studios in St. Louis, Missouri where he’s joined by Steve Kohart, International Tax Principal with PwC in New York City and former Advisor for the Center for Tax Policy and Administration for the OECD. Together they discuss the latest wave of OECD Pillar Two guidance including the Subject-to-Tax-Rule (STTR), UTPR safe harbour, qualified domestic minimum top-up tax (QDMTT) safe harbour, marketable transferable tax credits (MTTCs), as well as the six key pieces of the substance base income exclusion (SBIE).

Jul 26, 2023 • 36min
Pillar Two and Financial Services: What’s the deal?
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined by first-time guest Winnie Tang, International Tax Partner in PwC’s Financial Services practice in New York. Doug and Winnie take a rapid fire tour of the Financial Services and Deals space in light of the Pillar Two Transition Period, touching on the definitions of funds, REITs, excluded entities, management company structures, POPEs, Pillar Two in the Deals space, and many more particularities taxpayers should be aware of.

Jul 12, 2023 • 30min
Pillar Two in South Korea: Effective dates and much more
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is at PwC’s AsiaPac Tax Symposium in Singapore. He is joined by Michael Kim, a PwC International Tax Partner and South Korea’s Outbound Tax Leader. Doug and Michael discuss South Korea’s enactment of Pillar Two, paying particular attention to effective dates, likely legislative actions, the incorporation of future guidance, how taxpayers are preparing for Pillar Two, Safe Harbours, data collection, and covered taxes.

Jun 22, 2023 • 41min
EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation: State Aid goes global
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is at PwC’s Global Financial Services Tax Leaders Meeting in Paris where he is joined by Will Morris, recently named PwC’s Global Tax Policy Leader. Together, they dive into the European Union’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). They start with the origin story, how it intersects with State Aid, how taxpayers can be compliant, the necessity for collecting and saving data and information, consequences for failing to comply, and the challenges that taxpayers will face in the coming years, whether or not they currently do business in the European Union.

Jun 7, 2023 • 42min
Sweet Child O'Mine: Inbounding Intangibles to the US
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined by Aaron Junge, PwC National Tax Services International Tax Partner, and former Tax Counsel for the House of Representatives during the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. They discuss the historical perspective of the Section 367(d) rules beginning back in 1984, the recent regulations, and how we got here. Doug and Aaron touch on Section 367(d)’s original intended purpose, how the changes that occurred during TCJA changed intangible property (IP) ownership for US MNC’s (the carrot and the stick metaphor), the possible tax treatments of the repatriation of IP, the applicability dates, and how taxpayers can prepare, while considering Pillar Two, among other areas.

May 24, 2023 • 40min
Freshly Served: Germany’s latest Pillar Two Draft
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined in Madrid by Arne Schnitger, International Tax Partner with PwC Berlin and host of the German podcast Frisch Serviert (Freshly Served). They dive into the German legislative process, compliance and reporting, the German QDMTT, deviations from the OECD Model Rules, as well as the interaction with the US GILTI regime. They also discuss Arne’s recent article, “Does the 'Initial Phase Relief' Make the EU’s Pillar Two Directive Invalid?

May 9, 2023 • 48min
Alphabet soup: A taste of EU tax
Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined in Madrid by Edwin Visser, PwC’s European Tax Policy Leader. Prior to joining PwC, Edwin was the Deputy Director General for Tax Customs Policy and Legislation and Director for Direct Taxes at the Dutch Ministry of Finance. One of the real challenges for tax professionals and advisors is the sheer volume of tax proposals from the European Union. Edwin and Doug discuss the numerous EU tax proposals, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), Green Energy Credits, ATAD3. They also cover the EU’s legislative process, flashback to the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), then tackle Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT), the SAFE project, and the Debt-equity bias reduction allowance (DEBRA). They cap the episode with a check in on Pillar One and Pillar Two.

Apr 27, 2023 • 42min
Pillar Two: The UK’s latest installment
Doug McHoney (PwC's US International Tax Services Global Leader) hosts Matt Ryan, London-based International Tax Partner and leader of PwC’s UK Pillar Two Ready Team. Doug and Matt discuss the second draft of the UK’s Pillar Two legislation, the probable timing of enactment, the accounting implications, the UK’s Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up-Tax, and some of the ‘deviations’ in the UK rules.