Gaars A Key Element Of Tax Systems In The Post Beps Tax World

General anti-avoidance rules (GAARs) have been a topic of great relevance in practice as well as in academia for decades. In a post-BEPS tax world, with national legislators introducing or tightening GAARs, and with the European Union and OECD suggesting implementation of such rules, the topic seems more important than ever. The aim of this book is to give tax policymakers, tax authorities, tax courts and tax practitioners an idea of the various understandings of and approaches towards tax avoidance in 39 countries.

Hungary was the first post-socialist country in eastern Europe to adopt a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR). The original GAAR adopted in 1990, best described as a "form and substance" GAAR, was supplemented by a second GAAR in 1998, best described as a "proper use of rights" GAAR. The tax administration also attacks tax avoidance arrangements using the ordinary Civil Code, arguing the transactions fail as a matter of substantive civil law. There are three elements to the second GAAR, the taxpayer's purpose, inconsistency with the principles of a tax law, and the use of multiple steps to replace simpler transactions that would have attracted a higher tax liability. The GAAR contains an explicit reconstruction rule allowing the tax authority to reassess all parties on the basis of the transaction that would have been used if the tax avoidance transaction had not been used. The GAAR is supplemented by three rules considered specific anti-avoidance rules -- a rule substituting arm's length prices, a thin capitalization rule, and a rule restricting use of carried-forward losses. The law is silent on whether the GAAR can apply to a transaction covered by a tax treaty, although some recent treaties include recognition of anti-avoidance rules.

According to the questionnaire provided by the organizers of the conference several questions are answered in relation to the Spanish GAAR.

This book chapter discusses the background to the UK General Anti-Avoidance Rule, analyses the wording of the legislation and looks at its relationship with double taxation treaties and EU and OECD developments.

This paper discusses the Netherlands statutory General Anti Avoidance Rule (GAAR), richtige heffing and the GAAR which was developed in case law: fraus legis. It also discusses the relation with special anti avoidance rules and with tax treaties and EU law. Finally the paper discusses alternatives to GAARs.

Australian tax laws have contained a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR) for over a century. The income tax GAAR proved robust for over half a century but ceased to be effective when read down in the 1970s and was replaced in 1981. The current GAAR has been recently amended to include specific base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) measures. The GAAR applies when it can be shown the dominant purpose of entering into a transaction was to obtain a tax benefit, with eight factors considered when determining the taxpayer's purpose. The application of the GAAR is reviewed by a panel including independent members. Where the GAAR is applied, the transaction is reconstructed in a way that would have been used if there were no tax avoidance purpose and penalties are applied. A number of specific anti-avoidance rules supplement the GAAR. Principle-based design has proved to be an effective alternative to a GAAR.

The power of a country to freely design its tax system is generally understood to be an integral feature of sovereignty. However, as an inevitable result of globalization and income mobility, one country’s exercise of tax sovereignty often overlaps, interferes with, or even impedes that of another. In this collection of essays, internationally respected practitioners and academics reveal how the OECD’s Base Erosion and Pro t Shifting (BEPS) initiative, although a major step in the right direction, is insuf cient to resolve the tax sovereignty paradox. Each contribution deals with different facets of a single topic: How tax sovereignty is shaped in a post ,BEPS world. The contributors provide in ,depth analysis of such relevant issues as the following: hy multilateral cooperation and soft law consensus are the preferred solutions to a loss of autonomy over national tax policy; – how digital commerce has upended traditional notions of source and residence; – why residence and source continue to be the two essential building blocks of tax sovereignty and the backbone of the international tax system; – how developing countries can take advantage of the new international tax architecture to ensure that their voices are truly shaping the standards; and – transfer pricing reform. Collectively, the authors provide an authoritative commentary on the necessary preconditions for exercising the power to tax in today’s world. Their perspectives and recommendations will prove of great value to all policymakers, legislators, practitioners, and academics in the international taxation arena.

GAARS: the better insight into a country’s tax system In a post-BEPS tax world and in times of an ever-increasing need for tax revenue, policy-makers are more willing than ever to tighten or adopt General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAARs). A GAAR is typically a broad principle-based rule trying to establish the borderline between “abuse” and “use” of a law, thereby addressing the phenomenon that as long as there have been taxes, persons have been trying to reduce their tax bills. This award-winning book compares the GAARs and judicial anti-avoidance approaches of Germany, the UK and the EU. It gives a deep insight into the predominant legal traditions of the Western World, comprehensively analyses case-law and offers unique perspectives on tax law across jurisdictions. This book reveals that there is no other feature of tax law that provides a better insight into a country’s tax system than its anti-avoidance rules. GAARs and their historical background reveal so much about judicial perspectives on taxation and legal interpretation, citizens’ tax morale, drafters’ inclinations for technical or principled drafting or legislators’ willingness to confront politically sensitive issues. Understanding the role of GAARs ultimately also reveals whether they are a suitable means to counteract tax avoidance effectively. The Book is the winner of the Wolfgang Gassner-Wissenschaftspreis 2016!

A Global Overview of International Tax Disputes on DTC This book is a unique publication that provides a global overview of international tax disputes in respect of double tax conventions and thereby fills a gap in the area of tax treaty case law. It covers the 37 most important tax treaty cases that were decided around the world in 2021. The systematic structure of each chapter allows for the easy and efficient study and comparison of the various methods adopted for applying and interpreting tax treaties in different cases. With the continuously increasing importance of tax treaties, Tax Treaty Case Law around the Globe 2022 is a valuable reference tool for anyone interested in tax treaty case law, including tax practitioners, multinational businesses, policymakers, tax administrators, judges and academics.

Hybrid Financial Instruments, Double Non-taxation and Linking Rules Félix Daniel Martínez Laguna Hybrid financial instruments (HFIs) are widespread ordinary financial instruments that combine debt and equity features in their terms and design and may lead to double non-taxation across borders. This important book provides a deeply informed and critical analysis and guide to the “linking rules” developed to combat double non-taxation stemming from HFIs within the framework of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the anti-avoidance initiatives of the European Union (EU). These complex rules have now become essential in international taxation. The book deals incisively with crucial theoretical and practical issues as the following: Economic and legal reasons for financing business activity through debt instruments, equity instruments and/or HFIs. Qualification of financial instruments from different perspectives such as economics, corporate finance, corporate law, financial accounting law, regulatory law and tax law and their interrelation. The concept of double non-taxation as a mere outcome of parallel exercises of sovereignty by different states and the role it plays within the international debate. The concepts of tax planning, tax avoidance and the misleading concept of aggressive tax planning within a tax competition international scenario and their relation with HFIs. Comprehensive policy, legal and technical detail and explanation of the linking rules proposed by the OECD (i.e., BEPS Project Action 2) and the EU (e.g., Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive). The (in)compatibility of linking rules with existing tax treaty rules and EU primary law. The author refers throughout to relevant model convention provisions, EU case law and a vast number of references of official documentation and literature. With its detailed attention to the concept and legal nature of HFIs and double non-taxation, the critical and comprehensive analysis of the linking rules developed by the OECD and the EU, this provocative book allows to reconsider the legality of these linking rules and will quickly become a much-used problem-solving resource for policymakers, tax practitioners, tax authorities and tax academics. This book allows to rethink whether linking rules relate to a solution or create actual legal issues.