Tax Treaties

Treaties dealing with the division of taxing rights between states.

Administrative cooperation, Administrative obligations, Common Reporting Standard, Exchange of Information, FATCA, Germany, India, International Tax Law, Law enforcement, Mandatory disclosure, Personal income tax, Residence, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom, United States

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HMRC v Embiricos [2020] UKUT 370 (TC) reflects a common issue that arises in connection with tax investigations or audits of internationally mobile individuals. Mr Embiricos  filed his tax returns on the basis that he was resident, but not domiciled in the UK. On that basis, he was entitled to the remittance basis of taxation….

Abuse of rights, Administrative cooperation, Brexit, Double Taxation, EU law, EU/EEA, International Tax Law, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom

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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…

COVID-19, Employment, Exemption, Italy, Residence, Ruling, Spain, Tax Treaties

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The Revenue Agency confirms the exemption of income derived abroad by foreign maritime employees who are tax residents of Italy The Italian Revenue Agency has recently issued a ruling (No. 134/2020) clarifying that the income derived by a Spanish citizen (and Italian-tax resident) maritime employee working aboard a ship flying a non-Italian flag for more…

Dividends, India, Tax on distributed profits, Tax Treaties

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In international customary law, the scope of bilateral tax conventions is not exhaustive and instead limited by the temporal scope set out in ‘taxes covered’ clause. It is true that the scope of such clause, albeit with additional procedural stipulations, is ambulatory and taxes subsequently enacted under the domestic law provisions by treaty partners are…

Double Taxation, India, International Tax Law, OECD, Tax Treaties, Withholding Taxes

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Those with a long memory for cricketing events may remember the 1996 World Cup hosted jointly by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The winner, Sri Lanka, made 398 runs for 5 wickets, in a one-day international match, a record that stood until April 2006. South Africa’s Gary Kirsten scored 188 runs, not out, against the…

BEPS, Digital platforms, Digitalization, Double Taxation, International Tax Law, Latin America, MNE Profits, OECD, Pillar I, Tax Policy, Tax Treaties, United Nations, Value Creation, Withholding Taxes

(Bomchil)/ /2 Comments

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…

Double Taxation, Financial institutions, Income categorization, International Tax Law, MNE Profits, OECD, Permanent Establishments, Royalties, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom

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

Following the Supreme Court decision in Fowler v HMRC [2020] UKSC 22, the UK First-tier Tribunal has considered another case where classification of a source of income for tax treaty purposes was in issue. This time the question was classification as business profit or income from immovable property in the Canada-UK double tax treaty. In…

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…

Beneficial ownership, Dividends, Financial institutions, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Tax Treaties, Withholding Taxes

(Reinarz Tax & Legal)/ /1 Comment

With a judgment rendered on 16 December 2019 (case no. 2C_209/2017), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (“FSC”) rejected several reclaims of Swiss dividend withholding taxes made by a Luxembourg resident financial institution (“Lux Bank”) and thereby denied the claimant the benefits of the double taxation treaty between Switzerland and Luxembourg on income and capital taxes…

Pensions, Residence, Subsidiary, Switzerland, Tax Treaties, Thailand

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Tax Issue Under Review On 6 February 2020 (case no. 2C_510/2018), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court rendered a decision on the tax qualification of a pension plan benefit paid from a Swiss pension plan to an individual resident in Thailand, for the purposes of Swiss federal and cantonal withholding taxes on pension benefits paid to…

BEPS, COVID-19, Double Taxation, Employment, Fees for technical services, International Tax Law, Ireland, MLI, OECD, Permanent Establishments, POEM, Residence, Tax Treaties, United Nations

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Measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus have impacted on every aspect of life. While the degree of enforced isolation and immobility varies from country to country, the basic elements remain the same: Most people are compelled to stay at home and to work from there if possible. The speed with which the pandemic has…

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…

India, Royalties, Tax Treaties

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In my previous post, I had discussed the judgment delivered in the case of Elsevier Information Systems Gmbh v. Dy. Commissioner of Income Tax which discussed the liability of the taxpayer when it charges a subscription fee from the customers for rendering access to its database. It seems that the Income Tax Department has still…