Denmark accepted all MLI articles dealing with PEs, but what does that actually mean? Reading the MLI itself leaves one somewhat bewildered, being thrown back and forth between a variety of articles and options. Reading the instrument of ratification, does not necessarily help: it tends be a collection of long list of countries with treaty…
On 10 September Wolters Kluwer organized an interesting discussion on Permanent Establishments. The discussion was led by 3 panelists, Tamara Schwärzler (PwC Switzerland); Arvid A. Skaar (Norwegian lawyer, well known for his standard work on Permanent Establishments) and myself as editor of the Wolters Kluwer PE+ tool. Tamara kicked off the session by discussing Tax…
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…
This is a short series of blogs on transfer pricing documentation: what I have seen over the years, how it does (not) align with OECD documentation requirements, and thoughts on possible improvements. I focus on practicalities. Why do we need TP documentation? One answer is because many countries’ laws require it. More interesting is the…
As we approach the halfway mark between the 2018 IFA conference in Seoul and the 2019 one in London, I want to clear up some issues around “Business” as in stakeholders in tax discussions. Classically these stakeholders are “Government”, “Academia” and “Business” (plus the last 10 years “Civil society”). So, who should “Business” be? Setting…
It is 30 December and 2 MNEs contact me about my YouTube videos on uploading Country by Country Reports (CbCRs); they need help. In the week of New Year, I helped taxpayers in Bermuda, Belgium, Britain (for B’s), Cyprus, China, Colombia (for C’s) and then some more down the alphabet (not Zimbabwe). I remembered how…
The problem “Please tell me what the header is, I don’t know what the namespace for multiple schemas should be.” It seemed like a reasonable question, but I never got the answer. The same fate struck my other seemingly simple request: “Can you please give us a sample of a completed, valid, xml file so…
In March I blogged about the first OECD draft guidance on the allocation of profits to commissionaire and other PE’s. Looking at the June OECD draft, further ideas have come up as to why the allocation of profits to absentees is not a good transfer pricing idea. I have great respect for the OECD’s work…
On 23 May the OECD published a Public Discussion Draft on Implementation Guidance on Hard-to-Value intangibles (HTVIs). Comments are due by 30 June 2017, so hurry. 1. Introduction All guidance by the CFA and the opportunity to comment is appreciated, especially on a major topic like intangibles. That being said, I think that this paper…
In quantum physics, nothing is certain, particles are not to be found at one point but within waves of probabilities and connected particles can mirror each other faster than the speed of light because there is no transfer of information. Agency PE’s threaten to become the quantum physics of taxation. Introduction But let us get…
There are several misconceptions in international taxation, some of them more pervasive than others. Many are often repeated by speakers at tax conferences without being contradicted. The first is the so-called interest deduction bias. It is not the main topic of this blog, but I will deal with it by way of introduction. The Interest…
There are many things in life that we take for certainties, which are not, e.g. that it was the Scots that invented whiskey, the French champagne, or the Italians pizza. All not necessarily true. Similar certainties exist in tax and in transfer pricing. I recently had the honour of giving a training in France to…
This has been an interesting session and for those who were not there, I am sure that the essence is reported elsewhere in the international tax press. The deliberations lead me to the following additional thoughts. 1. As a remedy for even starting disputes: tax authorities should not take positions in making adjustments that they…
Random thoughts on presumptions on accuracy It is a fact that most in-house tax professionals know very little about their group’s financial systems. E.g. very few know whether their companies deduct discounts from gross sales or from net sales; likewise very few know whether there are any employee expenses included in cost of goods sold…
