[elgenie]

The Double Irish + Dutch is merely the most extreme example of the transfer pricing morass (and will go away in a few years). There are a bunch of other funky methods described in the wikipedia article I posted on the topic; defining and proving in court that a particular method of determining "market rate" was unreasonably chosen and incorrect enough to be worth the trouble is quite involved and, in normative terms, a big waste of economic potential (brain power on both sides is devoted to … that, rather than something useful).

As for "taxing IP licenses at the corporate tax rate", that seems nonsensical given that it's profit (aka value added) that is subject to tax, not revenue.

[zerebubuth]

I wasn't suggesting that anyone define or prove a "market rate" for intangibles. I agree that would be a waste of time. The reason I mentioned it was as a contrast to IP licenses, for which no market exists.

Profits are subject to tax, as are people's incomes, consumer sales, assets such as cars, TVs and homes, and goods which cross customs borders. I was suggesting that another tax (or duty) be created to discourage the offsetting of profits using IP licenses.