A recent decision of the Spanish Supreme Court, of February 26, 2018, in the civil law jurisdiction, may have an unexpected effect on the composition of the boards of directors of the Spanish subsidiaries of multinational groups. The practical effects for Spanish based groups with minority shareholders, where the role of directors is critical, could…
Introduction One of the most controversial topics of transfer pricing, in today’s multinational world, is the pricing of intercompany financial transactions. The 2017 OECD transfer pricing guidelines (TPG) lack clear rules specifically tailored to financial transactions, which can lead to a higher risk of divergent treatment of these transaction between tax administrations and taxpayers and…
The Existing Framework: Nexus and Profit Attribution Rules Under the current Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) framework, business profits are in principle taxable in the State of residence of the enterprise. However, the source (market) jurisdictions may tax the profits if a permanent establishment (PE) is triggered therein. A PE arises when the non-resident operates…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Marie Lamensch, Adoption of the E-Commerce VAT Package: The Road Ahead Is Still a Rocky One The e-commerce VAT package that was adopted in December 2017 is a key element of the European…
Being familiar with the Spanish tax environment, readers will know that Spain does not withhold taxes on interest paid to EU residents. This domestic exemption has been in force for several decades, long before the EU Interest and Royalties Directive. The domestic exemption has the beauty of simplicity: it applies to all EU-resident lenders, without…
I am delighted to see that my post on value creation has stimulated discussion on the fundamental thinking about international taxation. See the posts of my friends and colleagues Werner Haslehner and Sergio André Rocha. At the IFA seminar in Rotterdam, we puzzled over the meaning of “value creation”. Werner also referred to another mystifying…
The well-known expression “butterfly effect” comes from chaos theory, and it refers to the idea that a butterfly could flap its wings in Brazil and, through ripple effect, set off a tornado in Texas. Bringing this expression into the tax world, a decision by a domestic court on a seemingly domestic tax matter could trigger…
For many years, I have been advocating a drastic change in the distribution approach for taxing rights in international taxation. The focus of my criticism has been Article 7 of the OECD and UN Model Conventions. My core argument continues to be that the so-called “permanent establishment principle” disregards the role of the infrastructure that…
Intertax dedicates this special issue to digital taxation, aiming to contribute to the ongoing debate on the topic. The reader will find herein the entire range of existing positions, discussed comprehensively. The OECD Interim Report 2018 and the EU proposals on digital taxation are already taken into account in some of these articles. After the…
Economic development has been historically associated with the fulfilment of two major conditions: a) Peace and b) low taxation. Peace was the necessary component for prosperity from the point of view of foreign policy. Empires, kingdoms, duchies, principalities and republics have been prosperous only as long as there has been peace. Low taxation was the…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Nathalie Wittock, Sales Promotion Techniques and VAT Sales promotion is often a key component within a company’s promotional campaign. Sales promotion consists of the use of a number of sales promotion techniques (SPTs)….
Article 13.1 of the double tax treaty (DTT) signed between Luxembourg and Spain authorizes Spain to tax gains from the alienation of shares in a company whose assets consist principally of immovable property in Spain, with no exceptions for properties engaged in economic activities. Let us look at a scenario where a Luxembourg company makes…
Following up on Jonathan Schwarz’s latest blog contributing to the debate on taxation and value creation, I wanted to attempt adding some further critical points. The OECD’s stated goal of the second pillar (“Substance”) of its BEPS action plan is to align taxation with value creation. It has already been observed that this is a…
The May issue of Intertax is already available online here. The online reader can now identify the different sections, which include, besides the articles, an editorial, debate, country and case-law notes, as well as literature review. Articles published in the May issue evaluate exchange of information as an international standard, how to ensure ethical behavior…
