Policies about taxation, typically at a macro economic scale.
China has risen as a key global economic development engine and player over the past three decades. An evidentiary lynchpin derived from such mighty economic advances is China’s gradually escalating role to be a discourse power drive from a passive norm taker in various international arenas. China should play a more important role in designing…
Everyone concerned with international taxation awaits the publication of the final package of BEPS measures by the OECD on Monday 5 October 2015. While the BEPS programme addresses disparities between national tax systems and features of international tax rules that have allowed some multinational companies to enjoy very low effective corporate tax rates, it is…
In a globalized economy, financial crimes –including tax crimes– threaten the strategic, political and economic interest of developed and developing countries as well, and undermine confidence in the global financial system. The traditional perception was that tax evasion, even of a criminal nature, was somehow different from money laundering and other financial crimes (e.g., corruption),…
In the last few months I have been deeply committed with the Klaus Vogel Lecture, which will be held in September 25, 2015, in the Vienna University of Economics and Business (see invitation here). I have chosen the theme “Arm’s Length beyond the Guidelines of the OECD”. My research has led to the writing of…
China’s fiscal and tax reform should aim to narrow down income disparity and facilitate income redistribution to realize social equity. Justifiably, Chinese citizens’ perception to the rich has been different and subtle, given the suspicion that the rich grows wealth through unethical rent-seeking or corruption. The philanthropic tradition and culture were squandered by uncivilized spending…
In many respects a multilateral tax treaty represents an utopian view of international tax law: a wide consensus among nation states to submit themselves to a common set of rules that govern the levying of taxes across national boundaries. While there have been several examples of attempts at multilateral double taxation treaties, such as the…
On August 5, 2015 Grant Thornton (GT) published their annual International Business Report, a global “mid market survey covering more than 10,000 companies in 35 economies”. Unfortunately, their website only provides summaries; the full report relating to tax is not available on the site. It appears a sensible assumption the mid market companies surveyed engage in cross…
China has made vast strides in environmental protection in the past decade. The Decision further indicates that “ecological civilization” a key development goal for China. Various schemes are being tried to curb harmful emissions, for example, a cap-and-trade system is already up and running in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and is slated to expand into six other…
Part 1 of the Report to G20 Development Working group (DWG) on the impact of BEPS in Low Income countries (LICs), dated July 2014, listed in its Section 6: Other High priority BEPS Issues for developing countries, paragraph c), the topic of base erosion through wasteful tax incentives designed to attract investment, labeling it as…
Due to an amendment of the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive, the EU Member States must include a common minimum anti-abuse provision in their legislation by 31 December 2015 at the latest. The common minimum anti-abuse provision is contained in Art. 1(2) and (3) of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (which grants exemptions on payments of dividend in the…
International theory and practice In examining the economic considerations that should be taken into account for the legal framework for the eventual peace agreements in Colombia, I found that despite the little that has been written in Colombia on this theme, the international literature has some insights that can at least preliminarily shed light on…
Article 7(1) of the OECD model treaty is perhaps the most important rule regulating the international taxation of business. It sets out the fundamental basis on which businesses are taxed, that is, the state of residence has the primary right to tax with source state entitlement restricted to taxing the profits of permanent establishments. Source…
BEPS-Project? CFC rules and transfer pricing? Treaty abuse and dispute resolution? Why bother for such complicated things? Greece has a “perfect” solution against base erosion and profit shifting through cross-border schemes: It is for this purpose that Greece has imposed since March 21st, 2015, an additional condition for the recognition of any expenses payable to…
Action 6 of the BEPS Action plan is aimed at (i) developing Model Treaty provisions and recommendations on the design of domestic tax rules to prevent the granting of treaty benefit in inappropriate circumstances, (ii) clarifying that tax treaties are not intended to be utilized to generate double non-taxation, and (iii) identifying tax policy considerations…
