Anti-Abuse Rules and Tax Treaties
Anti-Abuse Rules and Tax Treaties

Author: Georg Kofler et al.

Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.

Published: 2024-06-24

Total Pages: 492

ISBN-13: 9403526688

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As the struggle to combat tax abuse and tax avoidance gains momentum, ways of making a tax jurisdiction ‘manipulation-proof’ continue to proliferate, from new or revised provisions in model tax treaties to a dramatic increase in the number and variety of anti-abuse and anti-avoidance rules at all levels of government. These measures interact with national tax systems, general anti-abuse clauses and tax treaties. The conflicts and other legal difficulties that inevitably result deserve intensive scrutiny. This book provides an in-depth analysis of current issues concerning the relations of various anti-abuse rules to each other and their impact on the application of tax treaties. The topics include the following: domestic general anti-avoidance rules (GAARs); domestic specific anti-avoidance rules (SAARs) (including controlled foreign company rules); minimum holding periods; indirect transfers of immovable property, shares, and rights; limitation on benefits; residence criteria in tax treaties; tax treatment of sportspersons and entertainers; the principal purpose test of Article 29 (9) OECD Model (2017); and influence of European Union Law on tax treaty abuse. The chapters are revised and expanded versions of papers presented at the 30th Viennese Symposium on International Tax Law held on 12 June 2023 at Vienna University of Economics and Business. Each author offers an in-depth analysis of a particular topic, drawing on the most recent scientific research. This is the only book available to offer such a wide-ranging, detailed, and practical analysis of how the full range of anti-abuse rules interacts with tax treaties. It will prove of immeasurable value to practitioners and law firms active in tax planning, tax consultants, academics and researchers in international tax law and counsel for companies involved in international business.

The Missing Keystone of Income Tax Treaties
The Missing Keystone of Income Tax Treaties

Author: Joanna Wheeler

Publisher: IBFD

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 449

ISBN-13: 9087221231

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Le site d'IBFD indique : "This thesis reveals a fundamental flaw in the OECD Model, namely that it pays no attention to the person who is liable to tax in respect of the income for which treaty benefits are claimed. This "missing keystone" causes two major problems of interpretation. One problem arises if the contracting states attribute the income to different persons; the myriad ways in which such a conflict can occur is illustrated by an extensive comparison of the domestic law of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in this respect. This missing keystone also causes a disconnection between the two principal conditions for treaty entitlement. The treaty residence of the claimant is based on a general liability to tax in a contracting state, whereas the distributive articles focus on the ownership of the income. Interpretation problems arise if domestic law imposes a tax liability on a person who is not the owner of the income, for example under anti-avoidance legislation or a corporate group regime. In order to eliminate this fundamental flaw, the thesis proposes a "new approach" in which the criterion for treaty entitlement is liability to tax on the income, backed up by substantial connections between the income and the treaty claimant and between the treaty claimant and the residence state. The new approach is tested in various situations, many of them decided cases, and proves to give appropriate policy results while respecting the tax sovereignty of states. The thesis includes a proposal for a re-draft of the OECD Model on this basis."

The Interpretation of Plurilingual Tax Treaties
The Interpretation of Plurilingual Tax Treaties

Author: Richard Xenophon Resch

Publisher: Tredition Gmbh

Published: 2018-12-14

Total Pages: 516

ISBN-13: 9783743902084

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RICHARD X. RESCH THE INTERPRETATION OF PLURILINGUAL TAX TREATIES Based on an analysis of 3,844 tax treaties, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and its Commentaries (VCLT), and case law of various domestic and international courts. The current orthodoxy maintains that courts are not required to compare all language texts of a plurilingual treaty but may rely on a single one for cases of routine interpretation. This view is erroneous, in violation of the VCLT, and the source of treaty misapplication; taxpayers are ill-advised to pay attention only to the text in their own language. In daily practice, the issue is of great relevance: almost three-quarters of the well over 3,000 concluded tax treaties are plurilingual. The BEPS MLI escalates complexity because it modifies a large number of treaties having texts in various languages. This study aims to (1) help diminish treaty misapplication through abandonment of the current orthodoxy, (2) show that sole reliance on prevailing texts is available as a pragmatic alternative in line with the VCLT, and (3) provide policy recommendations how residual cases may be eliminated. To support these goals, this study seeks to provide conclusive arguments and useful data to policy makers, treaty negotiators, judges, practitioners, and scholars. Its analysis of all tax treaty final clauses is intended to help both taxpayers and courts interpreting tax treaties in practice. The general arguments presented in this book are however not limited to tax treaties, since similar issues play a role in the interpretation of other treaties, for example, in the field of foreign investment regulation.

Introducing a General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR)
Introducing a General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR)

Author: Mr.Christophe J Waerzeggers

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2016-01-31

Total Pages: 12

ISBN-13: 1513515829

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Tax avoidance continues to attract attention globally with strong support for tax law reform at all levels. This Tax Law IMF Technical Note focuses on some of the key design and drafting considerations of one specific legal instrument (being, a statutory general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR)) which is often considered by authorities to combat unacceptable tax avoidance practices. A GAAR is typically designed to strike down those otherwise lawful practices that are found to be carried out in a manner which undermines the intention of the tax law such as where a taxpayer has misused or abused that law. However, the objective of combating unacceptable tax avoidance can itself make the legal design of a GAAR complex. This is simply because the phrase “tax avoidance” means different things to different people. Whatever the form of a GAAR, it should give effect to a policy that seeks to strike down blatant, artificial or contrived arrangements which are tax driven. However, the GAAR should be designed and applied so as not to inhibit or impede ordinary commercial transactions. This Tax Law IMF Technical Note discusses and explores how drawing a line between those arrangements which should be caught by the GAAR is a matter of degree and can be delicate.

Tax Treaties: Building Bridges between Law and Economics
Tax Treaties: Building Bridges between Law and Economics

Author:

Publisher: IBFD

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 679

ISBN-13: 9087221185

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In this book experts from the field of economics take a different view of tax treaty issues than experts from the field of law. In order to encourage the much needed communication between these two groups, a cross-disciplinary conference was held to discuss selected tax treaty issues from both a legal and economic perspective. Twenty-five conference papers on eight topics were prepared by lawyers and economists. The papers on legal issues were presented and discussed by economists, and vice versa. The interdisciplinary focus of the conference not only allowed an exchange of knowledge between two groups who think differently about similar issues, but also made it possible to better grasp the impact of the thinking of one group on the areas of interest to the other group. The outcome of the conference is reflected in this book. By showing the legal and the economic approaches to an issue, this book improves the general understanding of the two disciplines and demonstrates how the decisions in one discipline may influence the other discipline and its concepts. Twenty-two contributions are included, written by the most distinguished academics, practitioners and representatives of several international tax administrations and both tax and economic institutions.

The Oxford Handbook of International Tax Law
The Oxford Handbook of International Tax Law

Author: Florian Haase

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 1185

ISBN-13: 0192897683

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International Tax Law is at a turning point. Increased tax transparency, the tackling of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), the reconstruction of the network of bilateral tax treaties, the renewed discussion about a fair and efficient allocation of taxing rights between States in a global, digitalized economy, and the bold push for minimum corporate taxation are some expressions of this shift. This new era also demonstrates the increased influence of international standard setters such as the OECD, the UN, and the EU. Each of these developments alone has the potential of being disruptive to the traditional world of international tax law, but together they have the potential to reshape the international tax system. The Oxford Handbook of International Tax Law provides a comprehensive exploration of these key issues which will shape the future of tax law. Divided into eight parts, this handbook traces the history of international tax law from its earliest days until the present, including reflections on the developments that have characterized the last one hundred years. The second section places tax law within the broader international context considering how it relates to public and private international law, as well as corporate, trade, and criminal law. Sections three and four consider key legal principles and issues such as regional tax treaty models, OECD dispute resolution, and transfer pricing versus formulary apportionment. Subsequent analysis places these issues within their European and cross-border contexts providing an assessment of the role of the ECJ, state aid, and cross-border VAT. Section seven broadens the scope of this analysis, asking how trends in recent major economies and regions have helped shape the current outlook. The final section considers emerging issues and the future of international tax law. With over sixty authors from 28 different countries, the Oxford Handbook of International Tax Law is an invaluable resource for scholars, academics, and practitioners alike.