(Forthcoming: Intertax, vol. 49, 2021, issue 6/7) The Spanish digital services tax (hereinafter DST)[1] came into force 16 January 2021 replicating the European draft directive except for some minor deviations. In essence, it applies a 3% tax on the revenues obtained by taxpayers as a result of the supply of certain digital services to users…

Today we are witnessing a historic moment in the digitalisation of tax administrations (TAs) which evidently accelerated, unplanned and unforeseen, due to the measures of isolation and closure of many of the facilities resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. This unprecedented economic, health and social crisis that we are going through is producing a huge loss…

Analysis of the ECJ judgments, reading by national courts, and impact on tax treaty practice Authors: Robert Danon,[1] Daniel Gutmann,[2] Margriet Lukkien,[3] Guglielmo Maisto,[4] Adolfo Martín Jiménez,[5] Benjamin Malek[6]   (Forthcoming: Intertax, vol. 49, 2021, issue 6/7) Since they were delivered in 2019, the judgments of the ECJ in the Danish cases have been widely…

1. Introduction To be able to compete successfully in international markets, companies need to turn their R&D results fast and effectively into marketable products. Thus, besides the development (enhancement, maintenance, exploitation) of IP, its protection is of essential importance for companies. In order to ensure maximum legal protection, companies oftentimes formally register their IP assets…

Back in 2000, computer gaming was revolutionized. Instead of sports games, ego shooters or other genres, people caught an interest in ‘virtual living’.  Games offered an extensive life simulation. To an – at that time – unprecedented degree, people could live their lives virtually. Disregarding the why behind what drives players, it is undeniable that…

Maarten de Wilde* Summary On March 31, 2021, U.S. President Biden released his ‘American Jobs Plan’, an ambitious proposal for large scale public investments in infrastructure and other priorities. That same day the American President announced plans to offset the costs of these investments with U.S. corporate tax increase proposals: the ‘Made in America Tax…

On April 5, 2021, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet YELLEN “grabbed the attention of the occupants of corner offices worldwide with a speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.  The headline was a call for countries to agree on a global minimum tax rate for large companies.” (The Economist, April 8, 2021). In the slipstream,…

The inspiration for this post is “The Made In America Tax Plan” (https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/MadeInAmericaTaxPlan_Report.pdf) recently released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to outline President Biden’s Administration’s outlook on taxation, notably in so far as the “internationalization” of taxpayers’ undertakings is concerned.  This is a much shorter version of and directly excerpted from comments I…

Raffaele Russo[1] “In those countries where income taxes are lower than in the United States, the ability to defer the payment of U.S. tax by retaining income in the subsidiary companies provides a tax advantage for companies operating through overseas subsidiaries that is not available to companies operating solely in the United States… The undesirability…

Much controversial research released by the World Health Organization (WHO) at the end of March 2021 has concluded that the inception of the COVID-19 disease is likely due to a crossover of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from animals to humans. Although not unprecedented as an accident, the chances of viruses crossing over from other species to…

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…

Later this year, the 190 countries that have signed the Paris Agreement on climate change will meet at COP 26 in Glasgow—subject to the possibility of continuing pandemic-related travel restrictions—to discuss their respective plans for reducing harmful greenhouse-gas emissions.  They are collectively committed to taking action in order to limit global warming to “well below”…

Introduction The Covid-19 pandemic has produced an exponential increase in e-commerce, with new business models to market goods and services, and also a profound change in the consumption habits of the population, including forms of electronic payments, such as cryptocurrencies. On the one hand, there is a huge loss of revenue from this crisis. Still,…

The VAT treatment of the activities carried out by public entities has traditionally been a source of debate. Article 13 of the VAT Directive offers a short and limited regulation of the activities of public entities for VAT purposes. Generally speaking, the activities of public entities acting as such (that is to say: when using…