Introduction The new European Commission that is taking shape shall inherit quite a heavy file of initiatives to pursue in the next five years. Certainly, this is the case in the area of taxation. Some of these proposals are on the waiting list for years. For example, the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) was…

The OECD Work Programme published in May of this year under the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS aims to achieve a consensus solution to the problems of taxing the digital economy. The OECD Work Programme is broad in scope and considers radical departures from long established rules for international taxation, for example current transfer pricing…

Globally, countries are making a concerted effort to rein in the direct tax challenges posed by the digital economy. Some of this work is directly inspired by the recommendations set out by the OECD as part of its 15-point Action Plan to tackle base erosion and profit shifting. The Indian government, too, introduced two key…

In this blog, I shall examine the policy and characteristics underlying the split-rate system of taxing corporate profits/income. I shall also discuss the issue whether the Indian Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) represents an inverse split-rate applied to corporate profits/income, or if it is merely an independent levy, which is source-agnostic. Split-rates and their role in…

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions:   Rita de la Feria, The New VAT General Reverse-Charge Mechanism In this article, the author critically examines the EU proposal on tackling VAT fraud perpetrated through missing traders.   Diane de Charette, The…

DNB (Dutch Central Bank) issued on July 2 2019 a Guideline entitled “Good practices tax integrity risks at clients of banks” (Good practices fiscale integriteitsrisico’s bij cliënten van banken). The Financieel Dagblad (Dutch financial newspaper) published an article on August 7 on the topic. The editor’s comment in the August 8 paper concludes this is…

I am happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and is mainly dedicated to International Tax Arbitration, where ground-breaking and complementary perspectives on Tax Arbitration are covered. My editorial is dedicated to the topic, and John Avery Jones wrote a guest editorial on the Types of Arbitration Procedure….

Two of my recent articles have examined the Australian decision in Commissioner of Taxation v Resource Capital Fund IV LP [2019] FCAFC 51. The articles examine the central question on the source of income earned and the tax classification and entitlement to treaty benefits of investment funds. Real property gains This time I consider two…

Purpose of the blog The purpose of this blog is to address whether the transactional profit split method (TPSM) applies to centralized business models operated by multinational enterprises (MNEs). The assessment will be made in light of the post BEPS transfer pricing guidance, that is, the 2017 OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines (TPG) and the revised…

Since the news of the Brazilian request to accede to the OECD broke out, much has been speculated about the future of the Brazilian TP approach. Brazil is historically one of the major economies to deviate from the OECD Guidelines – and its approach has been severely criticized for that. Thus, it is no surprise…

Earlier this month, the author of this blog was at the IFA UK branch meeting where experts assembled to discuss certain interpretational aspects concerning the BEPS Multilateral Instrument (BEPS MLI) from a UK perspective. Most of these issues would have relevance in other jurisdictions too (including India) as more and more countries ratify the BEPS…

Background Action 6 of BEPS introduced the principal purpose test (PPT) as one of the Minimum Standards to be implemented by the countries/jurisdictions taking part in the BEPS Inclusive Framework (IF). The PPT has been also introduced in the Multilateral Instrument (MLI), in force since 1 July 2018. Even though the choice given to countries…

In the introductory blog to this series, I talked about how many local files do not look like the OECD documentation requirements and that it is probably the consequence of pre-existing files being (poorly) adopted to the new requirements, rather than starting afresh. Here, I will explain how I believe a local file could look…

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (hereinafter referred to as the “Tribunal”), Mumbai delivered a landmark judgment in the case involving two parties namely, Elsevier Information Systems Gmbh and Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax. Recently, the Tribunal held that the subscription fees charged by the taxpayer for access to an online database is in the nature…