Tax Avoidance

Applying structures to avoid paying taxes or to defer taxes.

Abuse of law, Abuse of rights, Anti-tax avoidance, Beneficial ownership, Canada, Corporate income tax, Direct taxation, Dividends, Double Taxation, income tax, International Tax Law, Loans, OECD MC Convention, Tax Avoidance, Tax haven, Tax Planning, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom, Withholding Taxes

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Abuse of law, Abuse of rights, Anti-tax avoidance, Beneficial ownership, Canada, Dividends, Double Taxation, Finance, Financial transactions, GAAR, income tax, International Tax Law, Luxembourg, MLI, OECD, OECD MC Convention, Share Dealings, Tax Avoidance, Tax haven, Tax Treaties, Treaty shopping, Withholding Taxes

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Advance pricing agreement, Anti-tax avoidance, BEPS, Corporate income tax, DEMPE, Intangibles, International Tax Law, IP, MAPs and APAs, MNE Profits, OECD, Tax Avoidance, Transfer Pricing, United Kingdom

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /Leave a comment

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 &…

Abuse of law, Abuse of rights, Anti-tax avoidance, Corporate income tax, EU law, EU/EEA, Finance, GAAR, International Tax Law, M&A and Reorganizations, MLI, MNE Profits, Permanent Establishments, Principal purpose test, Principal/ancillary arrangements, Profit allocation methods, Tax Avoidance, Transfer Pricing, United Kingdom, United States

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Abuse of law, Anti-tax avoidance, EU law, Finance, Financial institutions, GAAR, Indirect taxation, Principal purpose test, Tax Avoidance, United Kingdom

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /Leave a comment

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…

International Tax Law, Principal purpose test, Tax Avoidance

( PwC Netherlands, Lazarski University and Singapore Management University)/ /Leave a comment

Inspiration, purpose and the context of this contribution In the article “The PPT in Post-BEPS Tax Treaty Law: It Is a GAAR but Just a GAAR!”, Professor Robert Danon convincingly demonstrated that “while the PPT certainly permits a purposive interpretation, it may not be used to build into tax treaty law additional requirements that were…

COVID-19, EU law, EU/EEA, Tax Avoidance, Tax evasion, Tax haven, Tax Policy

(University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

In a moment of crisis like the one provoked by the Coronavirus, the problems of tax avoidance and tax evasion become particularly relevant, even more when they are blamed for cutting national resources to ride out the crisis and save millions of lives. Experts and activists in many countries are appealing to governments to go…

Abuse of law, Anti-tax avoidance, Double non-taxation, Double Taxation, International Tax Law, Mauritius, MLI, Netherlands, OECD, Principal purpose test, Tax Avoidance, Tax Planning, Tax Treaties, Treaty shopping, United Kingdom

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /Leave a comment

In last month’s blog I promised to address the treaty aspects of  Davies and Others v HMRC [2020] UKUT 67 (TCC). The case concerned UK resident individuals who each took out a life insurance policy with a Bermuda insurer under which their entitlements were linked to a Mauritian company that developed land in the UK….

Abuse of law, Anti-tax avoidance, International Tax Law, Principal purpose test, Tax Avoidance, Tax Treaties, Trusts and Estates, United Kingdom

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /Leave a comment

We have all become familiar with the expression in the PPT set out in article 7(1) of the MLI and article 29(9) of the 2017 OECD Model  where “obtaining that benefit was one of the principal purposes of any arrangement or transaction”.  Discerning which is a principal purpose is one of the main challenges in…

Common Reporting Standard, Exchange of Information, FATCA, Financial institutions, Tax Avoidance, Tax Policy, Trusts and Estates, United States

(DCIT, Foreign Tax and Tax Research Division, Government of India)/ /2 Comments

In the 1980s, a new dimension to profit shifting was introduced in the United States through the establishment of Onshore Offshore Banks. New legislation (called the International Banking Facility (IBF)) allowed banks in the US to maintain two separate sets of accounts. One set capturing all transactions with residents of USA which would be subject…

Beneficial ownership, Financial institutions, Foundations, India, Tax Avoidance, Tax Policy, Trusts and Estates, United States

(DCIT, Foreign Tax and Tax Research Division, Government of India)/ /Leave a comment

It is widely accepted that the United States of America is one of the most litigious countries on earth. As of 2010, US residents spent about 2.2% of their GDP (approximately 310 Billion Dollars) annually on litigation costs[1]. There are more lawyers per capita in the United States that any other country in the world….

Abuse of law, Anti-tax avoidance, BEPS, Double non-taxation, Double Taxation, International Tax Law, MLI, OECD, Principal purpose test, Residence, Substance, Tax Avoidance, Tax Planning, Tax Treaties, Treaty shopping, Uncategorized, United Nations

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /1 Comment

The Canadian Federal Court of Appeal has upheld the Tax Court of Canada decision in Canada v. Alta Energy Luxembourg S.A.R.L., 2020 FCA 43 (CanLII).   The case is of some significance because the Canadian Revenue Agency (“CRA”) sought to apply the Canadian domestic general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) in order to deny treaty relief. The…

Anti-tax avoidance, BEPS, Double Taxation, India, MLI, OECD, Permanent Establishments, POEM, Principal purpose test, Residence, Tax Avoidance, Tax Treaties

(Tax Lawyer)/ /Leave a comment

India recently notified a Protocol that amends the India-China tax treaty and incorporates some of the OECD recommendations put forth as part of its BEPS project. The changes would apply from the 2020 financial year. The Protocol brings about serious changes to the tax treaty in several areas, including limiting treaty abuse, tackling artificial avoidance…

BEPS, Digitalization, Equalization levy, India, International Tax Law, MNE Profits, OECD, Permanent Establishments, Tax Avoidance, Tax Policy, Tax Treaties, Uncategorized, United Nations

(Advocate)/ /Leave a comment

Globally, countries are making a concerted effort to rein in the direct tax challenges posed by the digital economy. Some of this work is directly inspired by the recommendations set out by the OECD as part of its 15-point Action Plan to tackle base erosion and profit shifting. The Indian government, too, introduced two key…