Back in 2015, my first ever blog asked Does the UK Diverted Profits Tax help or hurt BEPS? Whatever the answer, the level of complexity and the challenges it brought to UK cross-border taxation cannot be underestimated. The recent decision of the UK Upper Tribunal in in Refinitiv Ltd and others v HM Revenue &…

This is the second part of the authors’ blog on the Proposal for a Council Directive on Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) that the European Commission (EC) published on 12 September 2023. In this part we present our observations on the envisaged EU corporate tax framework BEFIT proposal. Reference is made to…

This is the first part of the authors’ blog on the Proposal for a Council Directive on Business in Europe: Framework for Income Taxation (BEFIT) that the European Commission (EC) published on 12 September 2023. In this part we present an outline of the backgrounds and basic elements of the BEFIT proposal. Reference is made…

G E Financial Investments Limited v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 210 (TC)  raised central aspects of the interpretation of double tax treaties. My previous blogs considered the corporate residence  under article 4(1) of the UK-US Double Tax Treaty and the existence of a permanent establishment under article 5(1) of the treaty. The First-tier Tribunal decided that…

Last month my blog discussed the questions relating to corporate residence and article 4(1) of the UK-US Double Tax Treaty raised in G E Financial Investments v HMRC  [2021] UKFTT 210 (TC). This month the focus is on the permanent establishment issues. The case concerned a complex financing structure General Electric Company group. The taxpayer,…

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…

When the UK introduced its diverted profits tax, I was telephoned by a lawyer at the US Treasury. He wanted to know whether the “just and reasonable” apportionment of profits, in certain circumstances where DPT applied, was a new development? What did it mean? I was reminded of that discussion this week as a result…

One objective of Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) is to provide simple and convenient services to taxpayers. To achieve this, the ETCB has invested significant amount of resources to enable taxpayers, both companies and natural persons, to submit their tax returns online and communicate with the ETCB via electronic means to the largest extent….