Few events in the last decade have contributed as much to the growth of the digital economy as Covid-19. The pandemic forced entire populations to go into lockdown, working from home became the norm and outdoor activities were limited to a bare minimum out of fear of infection. All these factors have contributed to a…

Purpose of the blog This blog raises the question as to whether the Pillar I Amount A proposal is consistent with the value creation standard? Naturally, as a start, the question arises as to what the value creation standard is. Value creation standard Although the meaning of value creation, as used in the BEPS project,…

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions:   Carla De Pietro, Beneficial Ownership, Tax Abuse and Legal Pluralism: An Analysis in Light of the CJEU’s Judgment Concerning the Danish Cases on Interest The complex interconnections characterizing the relationship between the international…

1. Carve-out of financial services from the scope of Amount A According to the Report on the Pillar One Blueprint,[1] the proposed scope of Amount A is designed to capture multinational groups that are presumed to participate in a sustained and significant manner in the economic life of a market jurisdiction. To this end, the…

The Italian legislation on excise duties, and in particular Article 24 of Legislative Decree no. 504 of 26 October 1995 (hereinafter, “the Italian Excise Duties Act”) that provides an exemption for fuels used for navigation in general with the carve-out of recreational shipping, has been considered incompatible with EU law by the EU Commission recently….

On 10 July 2020, the Italian Supreme Court (also ‘Court’) issued its decision No. 14756 (‘Decision 14756/2020’, published in H&I 2020/470 with comments by Arginelli and Tenore) dealing, amongst others, with the interpretation of the beneficial owner requirement under the Interest and  Royalty Directive (Directive 2003/49/EC; ‘IRD’) and the abuse of the IRD. The case…

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…

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…

In October 2020, the OECD Secretariat published the ‘Report on Pillar One Blueprint‘ approved by the Inclusive Framework on BEPS as a result of the work on the tax challenges arising from digitisation. The Unified Approach (UA), which is the basis of the Blueprint, is intended to complement the existing system of corporate income taxation….

1. Introduction The Pillar Two Report[1] (the “Report”) which contains the Global Minimal Tax (the “GloBE tax”) proposal has recently been on the top of discussions both in the academic and practice world. While the proposals objective is debatable[2], the blueprint contains dozens of new rules, exceptions and mechanisms which may possibly complicate life not…

One objective of Estonian Tax and Customs Board (ETCB) is to provide simple and convenient services to taxpayers. To achieve this, the ETCB has invested significant amount of resources to enable taxpayers, both companies and natural persons, to submit their tax returns online and communicate with the ETCB via electronic means to the largest extent….

Since the OECD introduced its Global Anti-Base Erosion Proposal (GLoBE) in early 2019 as the second pillar of the ongoing search for a solution to the tax challenges of the Digitalisation of the economy, the goal of GloBE seems to be moving. On the one hand, already the name suggests that the proposal for a…

State of affairs Over the last two decades, eminent scholars and commentators have been highlighting the numerous issues arising from the current regime governing insurance and financial services as laid down in Article 135, 1, (a)-(g) of the Directive 2006/112/EC (“VAT directive“). From the lack of competitiveness of EU financial services businesses versus US counterparts…

I. Introductory remarks In its recently closed public consultation on a possible carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) for selected sectors as a key element of the EU Green Deal, the EU Commission has asked for comments on several policy options for such a mechanism. In the accompanying Inception Impact Assessment, the Commission has furthermore set…