The Compatibility Of Anti Abuse Provisions In Tax Treaties With Ec Law

This book focuses on the question of whether anti-abuse provisions in tax treaties may be in conflict with EC law, especially the fundamental freedoms contained in the EC Treaty. This issue is dealt with from the perspective of Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom.

As the struggle to combat tax abuse and tax avoidance gains momentum, ways of making a tax jurisdiction ‘manipulation-proof’ continue to proliferate, from new or revised provisions in model tax treaties to a dramatic increase in the number and variety of anti-abuse and anti-avoidance rules at all levels of government. These measures interact with national tax systems, general anti-abuse clauses and tax treaties. The conflicts and other legal difficulties that inevitably result deserve intensive scrutiny. This book provides an in-depth analysis of current issues concerning the relations of various anti-abuse rules to each other and their impact on the application of tax treaties. The topics include the following: domestic general anti-avoidance rules (GAARs); domestic specific anti-avoidance rules (SAARs) (including controlled foreign company rules); minimum holding periods; indirect transfers of immovable property, shares, and rights; limitation on benefits; residence criteria in tax treaties; tax treatment of sportspersons and entertainers; the principal purpose test of Article 29 (9) OECD Model (2017); and influence of European Union Law on tax treaty abuse. The chapters are revised and expanded versions of papers presented at the 30th Viennese Symposium on International Tax Law held on 12 June 2023 at Vienna University of Economics and Business. Each author offers an in-depth analysis of a particular topic, drawing on the most recent scientific research. This is the only book available to offer such a wide-ranging, detailed, and practical analysis of how the full range of anti-abuse rules interacts with tax treaties. It will prove of immeasurable value to practitioners and law firms active in tax planning, tax consultants, academics and researchers in international tax law and counsel for companies involved in international business.

Study on the question of harmonization of direct taxation among European Community Member States: how Member States must comply with EC Law as they apply their tax treaties, how EC law regulates cross-border tax issues within the Community, and how EC law affects tax treaties between EU Member States and third countries. The book provides expert commentary on 27 leading tax cases from the European Court of Justice, and gives the proposal of EC Model Tax Convention, which combines existing provisions of international tax law with the principles of Community tax law.

This book is a detailed and comprehensive study on the taxation of cross-border dividend distributions. It first considers cross-border dividend taxation in the context of EU law. In this field, issues such as the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice, the hindrance to the internal market caused by double taxation of dividends and the compatibility of dividend withholding taxes are dealt with. Next, the book discusses the taxation of dividends under tax treaties, in particular focusing on the definition of "dividends" in the OECD Model Convention and the meaning of the concept of "beneficial owner" as applied to dividends. The application of domestic and agreement-based anti-abuse rules to dividends is thoroughly analysed. Finally, the relevance of the non-discrimination provision enshrined in Art. 24 of the OECD Model Convention to dividends as well as procedural issues relating to treaty relief and possible ways of improvement are taken into consideration. Individual country surveys provide an in-depth analysis of the above issues from a national viewpoint in selected European and non-European jurisdictions.

Analysis of notion, roots und measures of treaty abuse The OECD initiative on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting has put the issue of treaty abuse and the means to counter it on top of the global political agenda. Preventing treaty abuse is therefore currently one of the most debated topics in international tax law. Diverging national legal traditions in combatting abuse both under domestic and tax treaty law have led to a globally diversified legal framework in this respect and make the OECD’s agenda to harmonize these attempts even more challenging. The aim of this book is to analyze the notion of treaty abuse, its historical roots and the measures to counter it. The book’s topics cover a wide range of both policy and legal issues. The contributions’ main focus lies onanalyzing the proposals put forward by the OECD in BEPS action items 6 and 7. In addition, this book analyzes the lessons which can be learnt from the US tax treaty policy and elaborates on the effects the intensified fight against treaty abuse will have from a Non-OECD member state perspective. Also EU law is taken into account and the question raised which impact the fundamental freedoms might have on the development of new anti-avoidance rules. Finally the relation between domestic and treaty based anti-avoidance is analyzed in great detail, identifying the methodical problems of ensuring a sound and abuse safe legal framework. With this book, the authors and editors hope to contribute to the discussion on selected issues of preventing treaty abuse and the challenges they present to policy makers, judges, tax administrations and tax advisers.

Upfront planning for international structures is crucial to ensure coverage under bilateral tax treaties. However, because treaty shopping – whereby a third-party national or a corporation sets up a shell company in order to minimize or eliminate income tax – can potentially be facilitated by taking advantage of double taxation conventions, companies must carefully scrutinize and comply with requirements found in the limitation on benefits (LOB) clauses in tax treaties. This second edition of the only publication directly analysing the legal framework and application of LOB clauses in double taxation conventions adds detailed coverage of such major recent developments as the recent tax treaties concluded between the United States (US) and European Union (EU) Member States, the last version of the US Model Tax Convention (2016), the OECD/G20 project on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), and relevant new rulings handed down by the European Court of Justice. Among the subjects and topics covered are the following: – definition of the concepts of person and residence provided in the OECD model; – concept of beneficial owner; – application of domestic anti-avoidance rules; – adoption of specific provisions to counter the phenomenon of treaty shopping; – determination of sufficient nexus with the state of residence or a real business purpose;and – possible consequences of the incompatibility of LOB clauses with EU law. This new edition will continue to provide tax attorneys, tax professionals, and government officials with the perspective needed for effective decision-making in this realm of international taxation. Academics and researchers in taxation will also appreciate the in-depth and up-to-date coverage of this important subject.

"With particular reference to the Netherlands and the United States."--T.p.

The most favoured nation (MFN) treatment concept is closely connected with the non-discrimination principle since it implies that source country cannot subject an inbound investment to different treatment according to the origin of the investors, ultimately with regards their residence. This paper traces the reasons according to which ECJ reject the principle of MFN treatment in the field of direct taxation when the benefit to be extended form an integral part of a DTC. The author argues that the Court implicitly recognizes the Member States' freedom of tax treaty 'competition' that is capable of undermining the Internal Market neutrality. The author considers the advantage of the implementation of the MFN treatment principle into the EU against treaty shopping. The core of the paper discusses how the loopholes of the EU MFN treatment principle can be defused by the 'antidote' of the anti-abuse justification in case of treaty shopping. The paper considers the position held by the ECJ in ACT Group Litigation case in favour of LOB clause because it undermines the compatibility between the EU fundamental freedoms and the measures provided by Action 6 of the BEPS Project. In conclusion, the author finds that an EU MFN treatment principle, beyond preserving the neutrality of the Internal Market, would reconcile the actual clash between EU law and Action 6 BEPS' anti-abuse rules because it would correct the 'mismatching effect' of the Action 6 BEPS' implementation in the EU when it is capable of harming harm 'non-wholly artificial' arrangement.