BEPS, Transfer Pricing

(Texas A&M University Law)/ /Leave a comment

In a 207 page opinion the Tax Court ruled March 23, 2017 that the IRS’s adjustment with respect to Amazon.Inc’s transfer pricing buy-in payment for an intragroup cost sharing agreement (CSA) is arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable [1].  Another major blow for the IRS in a string of such losses starting with VERITAS [2] (2009), the 2010 Xilinx [3] about-face…

BEPS, OECD, Permanent Establishments

(International tax professional)/ /Leave a comment

In quantum physics, nothing is certain, particles are not to be found at one point but within waves of probabilities and connected particles can mirror each other faster than the speed of light because there is no transfer of information. Agency PE’s threaten to become the quantum physics of taxation. Introduction But let us get…

Arbitration, BEPS, MAPs and APAs, OECD, Tax Policy, Tax Treaties, Transfer Pricing

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

If there was ever a need to demonstrate the need to improve international tax dispute resolution mechanisms, it was as a speaker at the TP Minds conference earlier this month. In the course of our panel discussion on dispute resolution post BEPS, I asked the audience of over 100 tax directors and managers of multinational…

EU/EEA, Tax Planning, Tax Policy, Tax Treaties, Withholding Taxes

(Catholic University in Italy; Maisto & Associati)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction and EU law applicable On 8 March 2017 the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereafter “CJ”) delivered its decision in the Case C-448/15, Wereldhave, dealing with the interpretation of the “subject to tax” requirement provided for the application of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive (both Directive 90/435/EEC and Directive 2011/96/EU). Under article 1(1) of Directive…

BEPS, Intangibles, OECD, Tax Planning, Transfer Pricing

(Texas A&M University Law)/ /1 Comment

Lower energy cost is a major factor for U.S. manufacturers … to be able to offer on par production costs to China, and 10 percent to 20 percent lower costs than European manufacture. I’ve been remiss in my blogging since the surprise victory of the presidential election.  It is not because I think the apocalypse…

BEPS, EU/EEA, OECD, Tax Avoidance, Tax Policy, Transfer Pricing

(Crowe Valente/Valente Associati GEB Partners; Link Campus University, Rome) and (Editor of A Model Taxpayer Charter)/ /2 Comments

On 16 February 2017 the Public Consultation on the proposed introduction of rules at EU level to disincentivize promotion of aggressive tax planning schemes was closed. The rules under consideration focus on a Mandatory Disclosure Regime (MDR) – referred to also as a Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes (DOTAS) regime. Under such rules, tax advisers…

BEPS, EU/EEA, Tax Policy, Withholding Taxes

(Ludovici Piccone & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

The Italian Supreme Court issued a landmark case (n. 27113 December 2016) setting out the principles to be taken into account when analyzing whether a company can be deemed the “beneficial owner” for the purpose of being entitled to double tax treaty benefits. In particular, the Italian Supreme Court examined whether a company resident for…

BEPS, OECD, Permanent Establishments, Tax Policy, Tax Treaties, VAT, WTO

(Bomchil)/ /4 Comments

In March, 2015, in wrote in this same pages: “The BEPS Project is subject to internal (inherent) risks (tight schedule, quality of outcomes, jurisdictional overlapping) as well as external risks (potential breach of the Nations’ compact behind a common goal due to competing interests, and misaligned, premature and unilateral actions by States) which might conspire…

Arbitration, BEPS, Hybrids, OECD, Permanent Establishments, Residence, Tax Avoidance, Tax Treaties, United Nations

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /1 Comment

Tax treaty negotiators in 100 countries will be tied up over the next few months with the challenge to evaluate their positions on the BEPS Multilateral Convention (BEPS Convention) with a view to participation in the signing ceremony scheduled for 7 June 2017 in Paris. The many options offered by the BEPS Convention make it…

BEPS, OECD, Permanent Establishments, Transfer Pricing, Withholding Taxes

(Tax Lawyer)/ /1 Comment

On February 1, 2017, India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, presented the country’s 2017-18 Budget, which contains several tax proposals in the area of international tax law, including the introduction of a new provision to provide for transfer pricing secondary adjustments and new thin capitalization rules. The Budget also contains much-needed clarity on the tax treatment…

CCCTB, Tax Credits, Tax Planning, Tax Treaties, Withholding Taxes

(International tax professional)/ /Leave a comment

There are several misconceptions in international taxation, some of them more pervasive than others.  Many are often repeated by speakers at tax conferences without being contradicted. The first is the so-called interest deduction bias.  It is not the main topic of this blog, but I will deal with it by way of introduction. The Interest…

BEPS, EU/EEA, OECD, State Aid, Tax Policy, VAT

(Eurofiscus)/ /2 Comments

Much changed in the world of taxation the last couple of years. The OECD started and finished the BEPS (Base Erosion and Profit shifting) project. The objective of BEPS was to develop rules that would prohibit multinational enterprises to implement tax avoiding structures or tax evasive set-ups. The EU investigated the tax structures of Apple,…

BEPS, OECD, Tax Policy, Transfer Pricing, United Nations

(International Tax Student at Jindal Global Law School)/ /1 Comment

A recent ruling in GE Money Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. v. DCIT, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) has further contributed to the uncertainties in Transfer Pricing in India. The ruling is a drastic departure from international transfer pricing norms especially the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and UN Transfer Pricing Manual. Brief Facts GE Money…

BEPS, CCCTB, EU/EEA, OECD, Tax Policy

(Crowe Valente/Valente Associati GEB Partners; Link Campus University, Rome)/ /Leave a comment

Italy has embarked upon the challenging task of redesigning its tax system.  The Act[1] of late November 2016 (hereinafter, “Act”) constitutes a best-practices example, or at least for our Country. The above Act illustrates the national fiscal policy for the coming 3-year period, i.e., for 2017 – 2019, specifying the primary objectives and the guidelines…