This book analyses the evolution of tax treaties practices from the early days of the history of international taxation until the beginning of the BEPS era.
This book provides an overview of the effectiveness of tax treaty arbitration and the approach towards recent legislative changes in 36 countries across the globe.
In Imposing Standards, Martin Hearson shifts the focus of political rhetoric regarding international tax rules from tax havens and the Global North to the damaging impact of this regime on the Global ...South. Even when not exploited by tax dodgers, international tax standards place severe limits on the ability of developing countries to tax businesses, denying the Global South access to much-needed revenue. The international rules that allow tax avoidance by multinational corporations have dominated political debate about international tax in the United States and Europe, especially since the global financial crisis of 2007–2008.Hearson asks how developing countries willingly gave up their right to tax foreign companies, charting their assimilation into an OECD-led regime from the days of early independence to the present day. Based on interviews with treaty negotiators, policymakers and lobbyists, as well as observation at intergovernmental meetings, archival research, and fieldwork in Africa and Asia, Imposing Standards shows that capacity constraints and imperfect negotiation strategies in developing countries were exploited by capital-exporting states, shielding multinationals from taxation and depriving nations in the Global South of revenue they both need and deserve.Thanks to generous funding from the Gates Foundation, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellopen.org) and other repositories.
A precise and in-depth analysis of the Multilateral Instrument and of how it impacts the tax treaty network by implementing the treaty-related BEPS measures.
Action 15 of the BEPS Project "The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting" - the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) - is a ...multilateral convention that swiftly modifies the application of existing bilateral tax treaties without the need to renegotiate each treaty individually. It does not replace the existing tax treaties but rather modifies their application with the aim to reduce the opportunities for tax avoidance by multinational enterprises, counter treaty abuse and improve the dispute resolution mechanism, providing flexibility according to the different treaty policies and positions chosen by countries. The MLI was finalized in November 2016, and a first signing ceremony was held in Paris on 6 June 2017. A total of 76 jurisdictions signed it at this first ceremony. In the meantime, it has grown to cover almost 100 jurisdictions. The aim of this book is to provide tax authorities, policymakers, courts and practitioners with an overview of the countries' positions and experiences regarding the impact of the MLI on their tax treaty network, as well as other issues on the implementation of the convention with respect to policy options, reservations, and legal and constitutional concerns.The book comprises 34 national reports from countries across the globe and is the outcome of an alternative non-physical interaction between national reporters and authors. This was due to the special COVID-19 situation lived during 2020, serving as a substitute for the prepared conference on the MLI that should have taken place from 2 to 4 July 2020 in Rust, Burgenland, Austria. A general report highlights the most important findings.
In financial markets it is common for companies and individuals to invest into foreign companies. To avoid the double taxation of investors on dividend payment – both in the country where the profit ...is generated as well as the country of residence – most governments have entered into bilateral double taxation treaties, whereby investors can claim a tax refund in the country where the profit is generated. Due to easily forgeable documents and insufficient international exchange of information between tax authorities, investors illegitimately apply for these tax returns causing an estimated damage of 1.8 billion USD, for example, in Denmark alone. This paper assesses the potential of a blockchain database to provide a feasible solution for overcoming this problem against the backdrop of recent advances in the public sector and the unique set of blockchain capacities. Towards this end, we develop and evaluate a blockchain-based prototype system aimed at eliminating this type of tax fraud and increasing transparency regarding the flow of dividends. While the prototype is based on the specific context of the Danish tax authority, we discuss how it can be generalized for tracking international and interorganizational transactions.
International double taxation represents one of the main problems’ for which taxpayers have to deal within a world fulfilled with globalization, uncertainty, risk, asymmetrical information and moral ...hazard. In this sense, in this article it is provided a qualitative overview regarding the appearance and evolution of the main double taxation conventions and their legal framework. In this article it is tackled some important issues, namely: the rationale behind the construction and engaging in double taxation conventions; the need for a coherent and just application of those conventions; the historical appearance and evolution of the double taxation conventions, as well as the quid pro quo OECD Model Convention and UN Model Convention. The conclusions of this article highlight the importance and ultimately need for construction of best practices new and complex multilateral tax convention at the UE level in order to diminish the contagious effects of the treaty shopping practices. The case study presented in this article from the Romanian jurisprudence highlights the multi-faced concept of double taxation and the comprehension approach which must be undertaken in order to solve the complex issues of the international taxation via double taxation treaties.
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