The General Anti Avoidance Rule Its Expanding Role In International Taxation

This article discusses the role of and main justifications for general anti-avoidance rules (GAARs) in international taxation. It analyses whether or not a GAAR may be regarded as an international general principle of law taking into account the latest developments within international organizations, including some international courts, and domestic jurisdictions, and the OECD base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project. It also argues what type of GAAR or specific rules would fit more properly as a legal tool to counteract tax avoidance and its consequences.

Tax avoidance continues to attract attention globally with strong support for tax law reform at all levels. This Tax Law IMF Technical Note focuses on some of the key design and drafting considerations of one specific legal instrument (being, a statutory general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR)) which is often considered by authorities to combat unacceptable tax avoidance practices. A GAAR is typically designed to strike down those otherwise lawful practices that are found to be carried out in a manner which undermines the intention of the tax law such as where a taxpayer has misused or abused that law. However, the objective of combating unacceptable tax avoidance can itself make the legal design of a GAAR complex. This is simply because the phrase “tax avoidance” means different things to different people. Whatever the form of a GAAR, it should give effect to a policy that seeks to strike down blatant, artificial or contrived arrangements which are tax driven. However, the GAAR should be designed and applied so as not to inhibit or impede ordinary commercial transactions. This Tax Law IMF Technical Note discusses and explores how drawing a line between those arrangements which should be caught by the GAAR is a matter of degree and can be delicate.

This book describes anti-avoidance issues in three major developing nations (India, Brazil, and South Africa) and analyses all relevant case law pertaining to relatively successful general anti-avoidance rules (GAARs) in such developed jurisdictions as the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, France and Spain. It is based on analysis of more than 100 cases and over 500 legal references, as well as statutory legislation and administrative guidelines. The book shows why developing countries need their own tailor-made anti-avoidance systems, and it describes the features of GAARs relevant to developing countries, including the fastest routes, the paths that require caution and the directions to avoid.

An in-depth analysis of the specific aspects of justice, equality and tax law "Justice, Equality and Tax Law" is a topic that is both old and new at the same time. Even if the society changes, the demands that tax needs to be just and equal seem to be immutable. What changes, of course, is the perception of the content of those demands. International taxation post-BEPS has been fraught with new challenges that warranted urgent responses. These challenges were mainly provoked by the unprecedented rise of the digital economy which truly marked a change in the way business is conducted, how value is created, and how goods and services are produced and consumed. Digitalization, in turn, had repercussions on all aspects of taxation - direct taxation, indirect taxation, and even tax procedures. For instance, the quest for more justice and equality in profit taxes was the reason why, in October 2021, a historical deal based on a two-pillar solution to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy was negotiated within the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and agreed upon by 137 member countries. It was also the motive behind the shift from a typical vendor collection model to an intermediary collection model supported by centralized registration points in indirect taxes, notably the VAT/GST. Abundant data from the European Union or the OECD signalized an ever-increasing gap between expected VAT revenues and VAT actually collected, making it obvious that the classical system of VAT/GST collection was unable to respond to challenges posed by the digital economy. Therefore, new solutions based on the participation of digital platforms as intermediaries had been introduced. Finally, new technologies, such as blockchain, paved new avenues in enhancing tax compliance. In this context, this volume entitled "Justice, Equality, and Tax Law" contains not only a selection of the best master ́s theses of the full-time LL.M. programme in 2021/2022 but also represents an in-depth analysis of various aspects of this evergreen topic.

This book identifies a set of principles and corresponding tax settings that countries may apply to cross-border income derived by, through, or from a trust and will appeal to international tax practitioners, administrators, policymakers, academics, and students.

This paper reviews the rapidly growing empirical literature on international tax avoidance by multinational corporations. It surveys evidence on main channels of corporate tax avoidance including transfer mispricing, international debt shifting, treaty shopping, tax deferral and corporate inversions. Moreover, it performs a meta analysis of the extensive literature that estimates the overall size of profit shifting. We find that the literature suggests that, on average, a 1 percentage-point lower corporate tax rate will expand before-tax income by 1 percent—an effect that is larger than reported as the consensus estimate in previous surveys and tends to be increasing over time. The literature on tax avoidance still has several unresolved puzzles and blind spots that require further research.

This book is a study on the historical development and current status of international tax law in several of the world's most important trading economies. The book emphasizes the laws and policies of the United States, Western Europe, the United Nations, and the OECD. Chapter eight contains a discussion of transfer pricing. Chapter ten addresses the internationalization of tax administrations, contains information relating to tax havens, anti-tax haven legislation, transfer pricing, and tax treaties. Other chapters cover the history, principles and policies of international tax laws; the past and present status of the international tax treaty system; international tax avoidance; the problems created by tax deferrals; worldwide unitary tax issues; and global business and international fiscal laws.

This work examines the role of global economic change and the concepts of State sovereignty and jurisdiction in the creation and elimination of direct tax barriers to international trade and investment. Until now there has been no systematic study of the problems of such barriers to trade taking into account these fundamental elements. Here the author applies this new theoretical perspective to a number of specific international tax issues and aims to suggest practical solutions to the problems of direct tax distortions.The issues examined include: International tax non-discrimination; Treaty shopping; The prohibition on the extra-territorial enforcement of revenue laws; The need for tax co-ordination in the relations of the European Community (EC) and Member States with the rest of the world for the effective elimination of direct tax barriers within the EC. The Impact of State Sovereignty on Global Trade and International Taxation constitutes a valuable addition to the literature concerning the interface of trade and tax and international law, and the harmonisation of taxation within the EC. This work was awarded the 1998 Mitchell B. Carroll Prize by the International Fiscal Association for the best work devoted to international fiscal law or comparative tax law.

High-profile scandals and increasing public debt after the financial crisis have put international taxation high on the political agenda. This book offers a rare combination of empirical analysis with normative and institutional proposals for global tax governance.