George Orwell’s parable, Animal Farm, offers insights on political and governmental institutions that bear revisiting from time to time. BEPS Action 6 with the broad title “Prevent treaty abuse” has among its objectives “developing model treaty provisions to prevent the granting of treaty benefits in inappropriate circumstances” and “to clarify that tax treaties are not…
This is the first part of a series about numbers in transfer pricing. In this edition, I look at sticking the TP five methods on a typical profit and loss account (hereafter “P&L”). I find it curious that we do not see a lot more of this around, as I believe it is essential to…
The dust has not settled yet and there is probably much more to come from this and future leaks. Investigations have started, international cooperation will be key and hopefully those that have not respected the law will be punished. Here below a couple of reflections based on what I read/seen/heard these days between one toy…
Treasury recently released its 2015 Transfer Pricing Advance Pricing Agreements Report to Congress, the seventeenth report since the initial 1999 report. Each year, the Treasury APA Report describes the annual experience, structure, and activities of the APMA Program. Treasury also formally released the much discussed new audit/examination protocols that will become effective 1 May 2016. …
A critical appraisal of the EU Switch Over Rule and the Indian Equalization Levy At present, it is unavoidable to recognize that the international tax scenario is in transition to a much more inter-nation equitable system, where the national tax base will be better protected against erosion and profit-shifting corporate manipulations than it was in…
The OECD BEPS project was kicked off by the observation that the interaction of domestic tax systems sometimes leads to an overlap, resulting in double taxation as well as gaps, which result in an item of income not being taxed anywhere, thus resulting in so called “double non-taxation”. Co-operation among countries historically addressed double taxation…
That day in November 2012 It was 5 November 2012 when G20 Finance Ministers asked for a report on the root-causes of Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, by their next meeting in February 2013. Meanwhile, the mainstream press and Parliaments around the world had started to focus on the way MNEs manage their tax affairs….
Volume 44 (2016) Issue 3 contains: ARTICLES José Manuel Calderón CARRERO, Alberto Quintas SEARA, ‘The Concept of ‘Aggressive Tax Planning’ Launched by the OECD and the EU Commission in the BEPS Era: Redefining the Border between Legitimate and Illegitimate Tax Planning’ Abstract: In recent years, the need to prevent and combat aggressive tax planning has…
India’s 2016 Budget is proof that the Government is not only aware of major tax developments taking place globally, but is also sincere in bringing the country’s municipal tax system into line with global changes. The Budget, which was read out by the Finance Minister in Parliament on February 29, seeks to implement at least…
Volume 44 (2016) Issue 2 contains: EDITORIAL Dennis WEBER, ‘The New Common Minimum Anti-Abuse Rule in the EU Parent-Subsidiary Directive: Background, Impact, Applicability, Purpose and Effect’ Abstract: Due to an amendment of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive, the EU Member States must include a ‘common minimum anti-abuse rule’ in their legislation for situations that fall under the…
What do these two things have in common? Dr. Andrew P. Morriss, Dean & Anthony G. Buzbee Dean’s Endowed Chair, Texas A&M School of Law explains In 1998, seven US heavy-duty diesel engine (HDDE) manufacturers agreed to pay USD83m to settle a suit by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contending that the HDDE manufacturers had used clever…
Introduction On 28 January 2016, the proposal for a council directive laying down rules against tax avoidance practices that directly affect the functioning of the internal market (the so-called ATA-directive) has been published. Article 4 of the ATA directive contains an interest limitation rule that very closely resembles the German interest limitation rule which is…
Lessons to LatAm from recent developments of one of the oldest tax treaty networks in the region The final outcome of Action 6, BEPS, posses the query of adopting the principal purpose test (PPT) standard, and/or adopting LoB clauses. By reviewing recent changes to the Argentine tax treaty network, this contribution is a call for…
Volume 25 (2016) Issue 1 contains: EDITORIAL Pierre Moscovici, ‘Tough Measures Needed to Reform Tax on Corporate Profits’ ARTICLES Silvia Velarde ARAMAYO, ‘A Common GAAR to Protect the Harmonized Corporate Tax Base: More Chaos in the Labyrinth’ Abstract: The analysis of the general anti-avoidance tax rule in five countries of the European Union (United Kingdom,…
