(Forthcoming: Intertax, vol. 49, 2021, issue 8/9) Like it or not, the Covid-19 pandemic has been changing our way of life. Among others, large-scale lockdowns drive us to work from home and to rely heavily on videoconferencing and online-shopping. Thus, the arguably already digitalized life has been further digitalized! In the fiscal circle, the tax…
Today we are witnessing a historic moment in the digitalisation of tax administrations (TAs) which evidently accelerated, unplanned and unforeseen, due to the measures of isolation and closure of many of the facilities resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. This unprecedented economic, health and social crisis that we are going through is producing a huge loss…
1. Carve-out of financial services from the scope of Amount A According to the Report on the Pillar One Blueprint,[1] the proposed scope of Amount A is designed to capture multinational groups that are presumed to participate in a sustained and significant manner in the economic life of a market jurisdiction. To this end, the…
1. Introduction The Pillar Two Report[1] (the “Report”) which contains the Global Minimal Tax (the “GloBE tax”) proposal has recently been on the top of discussions both in the academic and practice world. While the proposals objective is debatable[2], the blueprint contains dozens of new rules, exceptions and mechanisms which may possibly complicate life not…
Since the OECD introduced its Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal (GLoBE) in early 2019 as the second pillar of the ongoing search for a solution to the tax challenges of the Digitalisation of the economy, the goal of GloBE seems to be moving. On the one hand, already the name suggests that the proposal for a…
1. Introduction The ability to stimulate economic activity and to attract foreign capital and investments through national tax policies has been known for many centuries. It was in the middle of the eighteenth century that the Russian Empress – Catherine the Great – granted to “[…] Foreigners that have settled themselves in Russia to erect…
In Part 1, we discussed in a first step the ground barrier for taxing data in the context of international taxation: a proper definition of data. In a second step, we showed you which negative effects result from the trilemma of data-based taxation approaches. In part 2, we want to present possible solutions on how…
For international tax law, it is of central importance how to locate, value & control the increasingly digital cross-border supply and service relationships within a multinational enterprise (MNE). This counts primarily from a tax authority perspective. Nevertheless, digitalization has not only significant effects for highly digitalized businesses but for the economy itself, as the overall…
A couple of days ago, in the last weekly session of the Indiana-Leeds Summer Tax Workshop, I attended the presentation of a fascinating paper by Steven A. Dean (A Constitutional Moment in Cross-Border Taxation)(1) where the author analyzes the political and economic predominant influence of central economies in the design and shape of post-WWI in…
The importance of digitalization has been demonstrated especially at this time of the COVID-19 disease pandemic. State and local institutions, as well as entrepreneurs, were in fact able to maintain their legal obligations and rights only through digital applications. In addition, digital purchases and payments have stimulated the further development of digitalization. Countries around the…
The global COVID-19 pandemic that arose in early 2020 could be considered the most disruptive factor the world has witnessed in generations. Paradigms taken for granted until then were upended, resulting in a ‘new normal’ that has changed the way we do business. As with all facets of business, international taxation also came under increased…
The global crisis provoked by the Covid-19 disease has affected several spheres of our lives. Apart from health, the biggest impact has been felt in the reduction of production and consumption, accompanied by a general tightening of business conditions. Although the course of the pandemic disease remains a factor of uncertainty, it becomes increasingly apparent…
Purpose of the blog The purpose of the blog, which is slightly futuristic, is to discuss whether countries will still compete with one another to attract activities in their jurisdiction post-Pillar II implementation. State sovereignty and Tax Competition A sine qua non condition for the existence of international tax competition is the opportunity to transfer capital…
1. Purpose of the blog This contribution is a follow up to the previous contribution of the author. The objective is to address the tentative impact of the Pillar I debate on decentralized MNE business models in light of the “ongoing work” of the OECD with respect to the digitalization of the economy[1]. The reader…
