Today, there is an exponential increase in new forms of commercialization of goods and the provision of services that make use of digital platforms. This situation is altering the functioning of the transport, delivery and digital services markets, among others. The rise of the sharing and gig economy, powered by digital platforms, has triggered the…
Luisa Scarcella (DigiTax Centre at University of Antwerp; Member of the Working Party on Tax & Legal Matters) The recent rise in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and crypto-assets accompanied by the rapid growth of crypto-assets providers has caught the attention of the EU regulator once again. Due to the heterogeneity in the…
Nevia Čičin-Šain and Joachim Englisch* The sixth amendment of the Directive on administrative cooperation has just been adopted by Council, on 22 March. Earlier drafts of DAC 7 have received certain attention mostly for the new regime of documentation and reporting obligations imposed upon digital platforms. However, the new Directive also features numerous other important…
Articles 3 and 6 ATAD: a dangerous EU legislative mix In the forthcoming issue of Intertax, I make an in-depth analysis of the issues concerning the partial implementation of the EU GAAR, as enshrined in Article 6 ATAD, by Poland in 2019. One of the main hypotheses is that the combination of Articles 6 and…
In part 1 of this blog, we focused on the increased involvement of platforms in the levy of direct and indirect taxes. In this blog, we will highlight other digital economy tax trends, such as the shift of taxation rights on digital activities and fixed establishments. Shift of taxation rights between jurisdictions More user-and-consumer based…
The digitization and globalization of the economy have created a challenging environment to enforce tax rules and ensure tax compliance. Ever since the OECD’s release of the Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)[1], the taxation of the digital economy has been under scrutiny from both a direct and indirect tax perspective. The…
The newly concluded Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and UK has limited provisions concerning taxation, but interesting provisions relevant to interpretation of treaties including good faith. The Agreement does not seek to replicate many of the rights which UK citizens and businesses had under EU law. There is no general non-discrimination provision. Double…
Few events in the last decade have contributed as much to the growth of the digital economy as Covid-19. The pandemic forced entire populations to go into lockdown, working from home became the norm and outdoor activities were limited to a bare minimum out of fear of infection. All these factors have contributed to a…
On 10 July 2020, the Italian Supreme Court (also ‘Court’) issued its decision No. 14756 (‘Decision 14756/2020’, published in H&I 2020/470 with comments by Arginelli and Tenore) dealing, amongst others, with the interpretation of the beneficial owner requirement under the Interest and Royalty Directive (Directive 2003/49/EC; ‘IRD’) and the abuse of the IRD. The case…
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…
State of affairs Over the last two decades, eminent scholars and commentators have been highlighting the numerous issues arising from the current regime governing insurance and financial services as laid down in Article 135, 1, (a)-(g) of the Directive 2006/112/EC (“VAT directive“). From the lack of competitiveness of EU financial services businesses versus US counterparts…
I. Introductory remarks In its recently closed public consultation on a possible carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) for selected sectors as a key element of the EU Green Deal, the EU Commission has asked for comments on several policy options for such a mechanism. In the accompanying Inception Impact Assessment, the Commission has furthermore set…
Case law on thepurpose of transactions is starting to develop around the world. Is there a common pattern? Whether a financing structure was a “tax avoidance arrangement” under now repealed general anti-avoidance provisions of the New Zealand Income Tax Act 2004 was examined last month by the New Zealand Court of Appeal in Commissioner of…
Last month, the second edition of the book ‘Fundamentals of EU VAT Law‘ was published.[1] It was written by Herman van Kesteren, Simon Cornielje, Frank Nellen and me. The second edition received a major update and contains – among other things – new key CJEU case law and new EU VAT legislation (such as the…
