The Office of the International Tax Counsel (ITC) performs for international tax matters the same functions that Tax Legislative Counsel performs for domestic tax issues. In addition, the office is responsible for negotiating and reviewing income tax and estate and gift tax treaties with foreign countries and coordinating tax treaty matters with the State Department and the Congress. Two important purposes of these treaties are to help reduce international double taxation and thereby facilitate a freer movement of trade and capital flows and to improve taxpayer compliance.
ITC attorneys develop international tax legislation proposals, review and assess all international tax bills, prepare background information, produce testimony for Treasury officials, and coordinate with Congressional staffs and other agencies on matters related to U.S. international tax policy.
The ITC staff works closely with the International Taxation Division of the Office of Tax Analysis in the preparation of detailed technical analyses and the publication of Congressionally mandated reports on various international tax issues. ITC works with the IRS in designing and finalizing regulations to implement international tax aspects of Congressional acts. ITC attorneys provide technical advice on interpretation of the Code and regulations issued. ITC attorneys serve as the official representative of the United States in various international organizations such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Group of Seven. Meetings in these international fora contribute to the search for common approaches to addressing current and important tax problems for which international consensus can be very valuable.
In addition to the above, this office handles a heavy volume of telephone and correspondence inquiries on a broad variety of international taxation matters.
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