The recent English Court of Appeal decision in Hargreaves Property Holdings Ltd v HMRC [2024] EWCA Civ 365 http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2024/365.html  has again examined the meaning of beneficial ownership and the related expression “beneficially entitled” in UK domestic tax law. It follows shortly after the Tax Court of Canada decision in Husky Energy Energy Inc. v The…

In my previous blog I examined the Tax Court of Canada’s analysis of the meaning of beneficial ownership in tax treaties in Husky Energy Inc. v The King, 2023 TCC 167 in relation to stock or securities lending. This post examines the application of the General Anti-Avoidance Rule(GAAR) in Canada to the transactions. The facts…

Although the meaning of beneficial ownership in tax treaties first burst onto the scene in Indofood International Finance Ltd v JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. London Branch [2006] EWCA Civ 158  and, for the first time in Canada in Prévost Car Inc. v R 2008 TCC 231, (affirmed 2009 FCA 57), its meaning and application…

English may be the lingua franca of our time, but it is not the only language of international law. Royal Bank of Canada v HMRC [2022] UKUT 45 (TCC).  raised issues around the interpretation of a tax treaty concluded in English and French, both languages being equally authentic. The complex facts are summarised at https://kluwertaxblog.com/2020/07/29/income-from-immoveable-property-article-6-and-royalty-streams/….

When is a taxpayer a resident of a contracting state for purposes of a tax treaty? The decades old definition in article 4(1) of the OECD Model that ‘“resident of a Contracting State” means any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place…

The present article explores some concrete application cases of Big Data in Tax Administrations (TAs). It then formulates some ideas for its possible expansion in the near future, considering both advantages and disadvantages.   1. Big Data The concepts of Big Data, data analytics and artificial intelligence are not new. Still, some technological advances have made…