The legal status of multinational corporations in international taxation

The purpose of this article is to analyze the evolution and current trends in defining the legal status of multinational corporations (MNCs) with special attention to the area of taxation, aiming to identify patterns as well as to justify the consolidated approach as an adequate tool for regulating their tax obligations. To achieve this goal, the following tasks have been set: 1) to trace the historical evolution of approaches to regulating MNCs; 2) to identify doctrinal and practical contradictions in defining their legal capacity; 3) to analyze the specifics of tax issues arising from multinational structures; 4) to investigate contemporary international tax initiatives (BEPS, Pillar 2) as an example of the functional application of the consolidated approach. Additionally, the goal is to present the perspective of the future development of the legal status of MNCs, taking into account the challenges of modernity. The research is based on a comprehensive application of general scientific and specialized legal methods. The leading method is comparative legal analysis, used to analyze the evolution of international and national approaches to regulating MNCs, as well as to compare doctrinal constructions. The historical-legal method allowed for tracing the genesis of the phenomenon of MNCs and the stages of their regulation formation on the international stage. For effective taxation in contemporary conditions, it is possible to extend the action of special legal norms to groups of companies defined based on consolidated financial reporting and control criteria. This approach allows for an adequate consideration of the economic reality of MNC activities, counteracting the erosion of the tax base, and ensuring fair taxation without fundamentally altering existing corporate and civil legal structures. A functional application of the consolidated approach to already existing economic entities is proposed without introducing additional legal status for MNCs. Thus, the future of legal regulation of MNCs, especially in the area of taxation, is envisioned not in the formal unification of their status, but in the further development, detailing, and unification of consolidated principles based on the priority of economic substance over legal form.