Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Administrative Co-operation, Double Taxation, ECHR, EU, Exchange of Informaion, International Tax Law, OECD, Rule of law, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom, United States

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It has been 60 years since publication of the OECD 1963 Draft Double Taxation Convention on Income and Capital. That model has provided the core and structure of all subsequent model double tax treaties published by the OECD, the UN and some states. During this period the number of bilateral tax treaties has grown exponentially….

Canada, International Tax Law, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom

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English may be the lingua franca of our time, but it is not the only language of international law. Royal Bank of Canada v HMRC [2022] UKUT 45 (TCC).  raised issues around the interpretation of a tax treaty concluded in English and French, both languages being equally authentic. The complex facts are summarised at https://kluwertaxblog.com/2020/07/29/income-from-immoveable-property-article-6-and-royalty-streams/….

Corporate income tax, Double Taxation, Finance, Financial institutions, Financial services, International Tax Law, Liability to tax, MLI, OECD, Permanent Establishments, POEM, Residence, Rule of law, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom, United Nations, United States

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

G E Financial Investments Limited v HMRC [2021] UKFTT 210 (TC)  raised central aspects of the interpretation of double tax treaties. My previous blogs considered the corporate residence  under article 4(1) of the UK-US Double Tax Treaty and the existence of a permanent establishment under article 5(1) of the treaty. The First-tier Tribunal decided that…

Abuse of rights, Administrative Co-operation, Brexit, Double Taxation, EU law, EU/EEA, International Tax Law, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom

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The newly concluded Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and UK has limited provisions concerning taxation, but interesting provisions relevant to interpretation of treaties including good faith. The Agreement does not seek to replicate many of the rights which UK citizens and businesses had under EU law. There is no general non-discrimination provision. Double…

Double Taxation, Financial institutions, Income categorization, International Tax Law, MNE Profits, OECD, Permanent Establishments, Royalties, Tax Treaties, United Kingdom

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Following the Supreme Court decision in Fowler v HMRC [2020] UKSC 22, the UK First-tier Tribunal has considered another case where classification of a source of income for tax treaty purposes was in issue. This time the question was classification as business profit or income from immovable property in the Canada-UK double tax treaty. In…

Abuse of law, Anti-tax avoidance, Double non-taxation, Double Taxation, International Tax Law, Mauritius, MLI, Netherlands, OECD, Principal purpose test, Tax Avoidance, Tax Planning, Tax Treaties, Treaty shopping, United Kingdom

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In last month’s blog I promised to address the treaty aspects of  Davies and Others v HMRC [2020] UKUT 67 (TCC). The case concerned UK resident individuals who each took out a life insurance policy with a Bermuda insurer under which their entitlements were linked to a Mauritian company that developed land in the UK….

BEPS, India, MLI, Tax Treaties

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Earlier this month, the author of this blog was at the IFA UK branch meeting where experts assembled to discuss certain interpretational aspects concerning the BEPS Multilateral Instrument (BEPS MLI) from a UK perspective. Most of these issues would have relevance in other jurisdictions too (including India) as more and more countries ratify the BEPS…

Double Taxation, International Tax Law, OECD, Tax Policy, Tax Treaties, United Nations

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /2 Comments

The High Court of Kenya gave judgement on 15 March 2019 on a challenge to the validity of the Kenyan-Mauritius double tax treaty in Tax Justice Network- Africa v Kenya Revenue Authority and others.  The petitioners had sought a declaration that the treaty had not been subjected to the ratification of domestic law and the…

Double Taxation, EU/EEA, OECD, Tax Treaties, Transfer Pricing

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Increased focus on taxation of cross-border situations involving both individuals and companies is one of the key features of the post-BEPS international tax environment. One central aspect of this is increased administrative cooperation between tax administrations in exchange of information and assistance in recovery of taxes. Territoriality principle Recent UK decisions have emphasised the need…

Arbitration, BEPS, EU/EEA, OECD, Tax Treaties

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The decision of the CJEU in Republic of Austria v Federal Republic of Germany (Case C-648/15) on 12 September 2017 is a landmark decision in tax treaty dispute resolution. Han Verhagen raised important questions about the Court as an arbitrator for tax treaty disputed in his blog-post on 13 September 2017. One obvious benefit in…

BEPS, OECD, Permanent Establishments, Tax Treaties

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

On 24 April 2017 the Indian Supreme Court held that Formula One World Championship Ltd, the holder of the commercial rights to the Formula One Grand Prix, had a permanent establishment in India at the Buddh International Circuit where the event was held in 2011, 2012 and 2013. The Supreme Court concluded that the UK…

OECD, Permanent Establishments, Tax Treaties, United Nations

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /4 Comments

The services permanent establishment concept is perhaps the most noteworthy contribution to tax treaties provided by the UN model. The tax treaty concluded by South Africa and the United States in 1997, to replace the one terminated during the apartheid era, has provided an opportunity to consider thorny questions of services and permanent establishments. The…

OECD, Tax Treaties, United Nations

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /20 Comments

When internationally mobile workers retire, they look to Art 18 of the OECD Model tax treaty to determine their tax treatment if they are private sector workers. Government workers look to Art 19. What about employees of international organisations? Although international civil servants, they work for no government and are outside Art 19. Commonly, treaties…