For some time now, Poland and Hungary have been under scrutiny from the European Commission for their violation of the rule of law, as we read with some regularity in the daily press. Recently, Poland was even fined by the European Commission. One of the defenses of these Member States is that the EU itself…
Comment on the decision of the ECtHR in the case ‘Halet against Luxembourg’ (‘Lux Leaks’ case). In a judgment delivered on 11 May 2021,[i] the Third Chamber of the ECtHR ruled, by five votes to two, that the criminal conviction of the second ‘Lux Leaks’ whistleblower, Raphaël Halet, for disclosing tax documents about clients…
Though India has been having tax treaties with over 90 countries across the globe for several decades now, interpretation of various provisions of the treaties continues to be a subject matter of protracted litigation to date. Many issues remain vexed in India, as very few of them are settled at the Supreme Court level. As…
A conversation on International Tax Practice culminated into an IFA webinar series on May 20th with global experts sharing their perspectives on landmark treaty and transfer pricing rulings delivered by Courts in various jurisdictions suggesting areas of alignment and divergence of principles. In an eminent panel moderated by Professor Robert Danon, Mr. Mukesh Butani…
Introduction In two previous posts on this blog (1 and 2), the author analyzed the VAT treatment of activities carried out by public entities, particularly public entities that offer radio and television services. Case C-21/20 referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by a Bulgarian court, and in which various aspects…
Bram Markey – EMEA Leader Tax Controversy & Dispute Resolution at PwC Belgium Raphaël Devroye – Transfer Pricing Manager at PwC Belgium In a recent judgement[1], the Belgian Court of Appeal of Ghent ruled in favour of the taxpayer as regards a transfer pricing case in relation to intangibles. Even though the case is complex…
Apropos Molinos Rio de la Plata SA 1. Background: Memorandum DNI 799/10 In Memorandum 799/10, the Argentine Competent Authority (Argentine Tax Directorate, Dirección Nacional de Impuestos or DNI) dealt with a DTA structured after the Andean Model Treaty (AMT) and the interposition of a Chilean holding company (Platform Company) by an Argentine ultimate corporate shareholder….
Omar Sebastian Cabrera [1] General considerations Law 2133, dated August 4, 2021, implemented a new tax regime related to the flagging of ships and vessels in Colombia. The purpose of this law is to provide a regulatory framework that would help increase the numbers of ships registered under a Colombian flag, as Colombia lags considerably…
In the first part of this article, the authors provided an overview of the Blackrock case. In the second part of this article, the authors consider the DBKAG case and reflect on the impact that these decisions have on businesses in the short and mid-term. 2.2 Is the supply of a specific software capable of…
Last month my blog discussed the questions relating to corporate residence and article 4(1) of the UK-US Double Tax Treaty raised in G E Financial Investments v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 210 (TC). This month the focus is on the permanent establishment issues. The case concerned a complex financing structure General Electric Company group. The taxpayer,…
In this article, which is divided in two parts, the authors consider two judgments from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in respect of the VAT exemption for the management of funds. In particular, the authors examine how these judgments deal with the issue of digitalisation and outsourcing. Part 1 of this…
On 20 May, 2021 the first Webinar of IFA’s online series “A conversation on International Tax Practice” was held. Chaired by Robert Danon (Chair IFA Permanent Scientific Committee), global experts shared their perspectives on India’s software royalty case and on landmark transfer pricing rulings delivered by Courts in various jurisdictions thereby suggesting alignment and…
In one of the significant and eye-catching moves by the Indian government, the controversial law on retrospective tax on indirect transfer of shares representing assets held in India was withdrawn and was made prospective[1]. The law passed recently also proposed to refund the amount paid in these cases without any interest thereon. The retrospective introduction…
When is a taxpayer a resident of a contracting state for purposes of a tax treaty? The decades old definition in article 4(1) of the OECD Model that ‘“resident of a Contracting State” means any person who, under the laws of that State, is liable to tax therein by reason of his domicile, residence, place…
