In general terms, the application of anti-hybrid rules proposed by the OECD in Action 2 of the BEPS Project, with the aim of establishing a link between the tax treatment applicable to the remuneration derived from hybrid financial instruments in different jurisdictions, will depend on the fulfillment of four cumulative conditions: (i) the use of…

The first part of this blog post addressed the incompatibility of the anti-hybrid rule proposed by the OECD to the source state (“primary response”), which restricts the right to deduct the payments made to non-residents, with the non-discrimination provision found in article 24(4) of tax treaties patterned on the OECD MC. In this second part…

On August 5, 2015 Grant Thornton (GT) published their annual International Business Report, a global “mid market survey covering more than 10,000 companies in 35 economies”. Unfortunately, their website only provides summaries;  the full report relating to tax is not available on the site. It appears a sensible assumption the mid market companies surveyed engage in cross…

With the declared aim of curbing cross-border tax arbitrage practiced with hybrid financial instruments, the OECD recommended, in Action 2 of the BEPS project, the adoption of anti-hybrid rules, designed to establish a link between the tax treatments applicable to the remuneration derived from financial instruments with characteristics of both equity and debt in the…

In line with BEPS Action 12, the Brazilian President enacted, on July 21, 2015, the Provisional Measure (“MP”) no. 685, creating the obligation for taxpayers to disclose aggressive tax plannings. Even though this MP is enforceable immediately, the actual disclosure still depends on regulations to be issued in the near future. In addition, a MP…

Attacking Profit Shifting by Prof. Jeffery Kadet (Abstract) In recent years the financial press has turned increasing attention to MNCs that shift income to low taxed jurisdictions overseas in order to avoid US taxation. What’s generally missing from these discussions is any serious focus on possible IRS attacks on these companies, most of which are CFCs. There’s little…

Dr. Andrew P. Morriss is Dean & Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chairholder, Texas A&M University School of Law; Drew Estes is a JD/MBA Candidate, Class of 2016, University of Alabama. Excerpted from Kluwer CCH’s Global Tax Weekly Magazine Introduction Tax competition is usually portrayed as a competition over rates. Critics argue that such competition leads inevitably…

Part 1 of the Report to G20 Development Working group (DWG) on the impact of BEPS in Low Income countries (LICs), dated July 2014, listed in its Section 6: Other High priority BEPS Issues for developing countries, paragraph c), the topic of base erosion through wasteful tax incentives designed to attract investment, labeling it as…

This week, the United Kingdom Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, has ruled that a UK resident individual member of a Delaware limited liability company is entitled to credit in the UK for US tax on the profits of the LLC. Anson v Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2015] UKSC 44 has rejected…

Co-authored by Luís Eduardo Schoueri and Mateus Calicchio Barbosa Spotlight was shed on transparency by the OECD’s BEPS Plan, where a set of Actions was put forward under the flag of “ensuring transparency while promoting increased certainty and predictability”. The document suggests a “more holistic approach” to the matter, and states that the obtaining of…

Dr. Andrew Morriss, Dean of Texas A&M University School of Law The rapidly shifting world of international financial and tax regulation – from the OECD’s BEPS to FATCA – is reshaping the world. Many of these policies are being adopted without regard to whether they produce net benefits (e.g. revenue in excess of the costs…

Article 7(1) of the OECD model treaty is perhaps the most important rule regulating the international taxation of business. It sets out the fundamental basis on which businesses are taxed, that is, the state of residence has the primary right to tax with source state entitlement restricted to taxing the profits of permanent establishments. Source…