BEPS Action Plan 6 observes that corporations are misusing Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) provisions by indulging in treaty shopping. A typical example of treaty abuse that BEPS Action Plan 6 seeks to counter is that of an American corporation entering the Indian market through Mauritius because of the favourable India-Mauritius DTAA. An intermediary mailbox…
This is the first article of a short series that explores the international taxation of income attributable to Autonomous Artificial Intelligence (AAI). The series is based on an article written by the author and published by Kluwer in INTERTAX, Volume 47, Issue 05 (May 2019).[1] Each article features questions posed by prominent tax professors around…
Corresponding adjustments and the MAP process When the price charged for goods or services sold between related parties is not in accordance with the arm’s length principle, Article 9(1) of the OECD Model authorizes the tax authorities of a State to make primary adjustments to the transfer price. This may trigger economic double taxation as…
I wrote in my last blog that despite its impact, corporate tax avoidance is one of the lesser debated issues in India. This is what I wrote: “Multinational tax avoidance has almost never made it to the front pages of popular Indian newspapers and has never been discussed on primetime TV news debates. That corporate…
There has been much brouhaha about equalization levies in the context of the digital economy. One of the hotly debated issues is whether such levies are covered by tax treaties at all. In this post, I should like to reflect over this issue as objectively as possible. I shall not, however, delve into issues of…
On 16 April 2019, the European Parliament (EP) voted in favour of the proposed Directive on the protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law (hereinafter “the Directive”).[1]Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of persons reporting on breaches of Union law (SWD(2018) 116 final and…
I am delighted to inform you that Intertax, May 2019 issue, has been published. There you may read a critical editorial by Yariv Brauner, on the recent OECD developments on Digital Economy and Taxes: “Developments on the Digital Economy Front: Progression or Regression?”. You may also find excellent double-blind peer-reviewed articles on different relevant international…
Taxation of the digital economy is one of the more difficult and contentious issues in international taxation. There are several strands to this complexity. One strand is profit attribution for enterprises trading across different tax jurisdictions. Yet, several countries have introduced or propose to introduce a tax on MNEs in the digital sector known as…
Some issues tax issues never go away. The source of income or gain is one of them. Two recent decisions, one Australian, and the other South African, have considered this fundamental issue. Both cases involve the natural resource sector. Each relates to a fact pattern that is frequently found in the sector. Correct identification of…
In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to French scientist Jean-Baptiste Leroy: “Our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Franklin was right then and he is right now. However, there is one more commonality…
I am happy to inform you that issue 4, 2019, of the journal is available and includes, among others, the following contributions: My editorial, entitled “The Commission Proposal to Replace Unanimity for a Qualified Majority in the Tax Field”, focuses on the European Commission Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council,…
The financial crisis of 2008 and the Great Recession that followed led to millions losing their jobs and their homes. In Europe, the governments reacted to the pressure on the Eurozone by imposing austerity and sharply cutting the social safety net. While the Obama Administration made no such cuts, the size of the US fiscal…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Carlo Garbarino, The Relevance of the Procedural Framework Principles in the Direct Tax Cases of the CJEU The European Court of Justice (hereinafter the ‘CJEU’ or the ‘Court’) has developed a judicial approach…
With its ruling dated 11 March 2019 (case no. 2C_34/2018) the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld a decision of the Court of Justice of the Canton Geneva, according to which it was principally possible for a Swiss holding company to undertake a tax-neutral demerger, such that the existing holding company could transfer just one qualifying…
