Beneficial Ownership in International Tax Law

Beneficial Ownership in International Tax Law
Author: Angelika Meindl-Ringler
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2016-06-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9041168397

In international tax law, the term ‘beneficial ownership’ refers to which parties involved in a cross-border transaction are entitled to tax treaty benefits. However, determining beneficial ownership is a complex and often disputed issue, subject to different meanings in different countries. Archival research on its early use in tax treaties and in the developing OECD Model reveals that its meaning has changed dramatically over the decades, leading to new interpretations significantly affecting current tax practice and scholarship. This book, dedicated to establishing how beneficial ownership should ideally be interpreted, compares the use and interpretation of benefi-cial ownership, both current and historical, in a wide range of national jurisdictions as well as the EU, ultimately shedding a clearer light than has heretofore been available on the meaning of the term. In her very thorough analysis of the application of beneficial ownership, the author touches on such aspects as the following: – historical development of the beneficial ownership requirement as used in tax treaties and in the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital; – rules of double taxation conventions; – application of the OECD’s Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit-Shifting (BEPS); – the problem of so-called ‘white income’; – use of the substance-over-form principle; – attribution-of-income rules; and – the role of agents, nominees, and conduit companies. Specific analysis of the use and interpretation of beneficial ownership in a domestic law and treaty context in numerous jurisdictions – with particular emphasis on the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and Germany – is a major feature of the presentation. As a thorough guide to determining whether a person claiming tax treaty benefits is the true owner – and which parties are excluded from treaty benefits and to what extent – this book will be of immeasurable value to lawyers, tax authorities, policymakers, and other professionals working with taxable international transactions of any kind.

Schwarz on Tax Treaties

Schwarz on Tax Treaties
Author: Jonathan Schwarz
Publisher: Kluwer Law International B.V.
Total Pages: 870
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9403526319

Schwarz on Tax Treaties is the definitive analysis of tax treaties from United Kingdom and Irish perspectives and provides in-depth expert analysis of the interpretation and interaction of those treaty networks with the European Union and international law. The sixth edition significantly develops the earlier work with enhanced commentary and is updated to include the latest UK, Irish domestic and treaty developments, international and EU law, including: Covered Tax Agreements modified by the BEPS Multilateral Instrument; judicial decisions of Ireland, the UK and foreign courts on UK and Irish treaties; Digital Services Tax; treaty binding compulsory arbitration; Brexit and the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement; taxpayer rights in exchange of information; taxpayer rights in EU cross-border collection of taxes; attribution of profits to permanent establishments; and EU DAC 6 Disclosure of cross-border planning. Case law developments including: UK Supreme Court in Fowler v HMRC; Indian Supreme Court in Engineering Analysis Centre of Excellence Private Limited and Others v CIT; Australian Full Federal Court in Addy v CoT; French Supreme Administrative Court in Valueclick; English Court of Appeal in Irish Bank Resolution Corporation v HMRC; JJ Management and others v HMRC; United States Tax Court in Adams Challenge v CIR; UK Tax Tribunals in Royal Bank of Canada v HMRC; Lloyd-Webber v HMRC; Esso Exploration and Production v HMRC; Glencore v HMRC; McCabe v HMRC; Padfield v HMRC; Davies v HMRC; Uddin v HMRC; English High Court in Minera Las Bambas v Glencore; Kotton v First Tier Tribunal; and CJEU in N Luxembourg I, and others (the ‘Danish beneficial ownership cases’); État belge v Pantochim; College Pension Plan of British Columbia v Finanzamt München; HB v Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale. About the Author Jonathan Schwarz BA, LLB (Witwatersrand), LLM (UC Berkeley), FTII is an English Barrister at Temple Tax Chambers in London and is also a South African Advocate and a Canadian and Irish Barrister. His practice focuses on international tax disputes as counsel and as an expert and advises on solving cross-border tax problems. He is a Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, King’s College London University. He has been listed as a leading tax Barrister in both the Legal 500, for international corporate tax, and Chambers’ Guide to the Legal Profession, for international transactions and particular expertise in transfer pricing. He has been lauded in Who’s Who Legal, UK Bar for his ‘brilliant’ handling of cross-border tax problems. In Chambers Guide, he is identified as ‘the double tax guru’ with ‘extraordinary depth of knowledge and experience when it comes to tax treaty issues and is a creative thinker and a clear and meticulous writer’.

Beneficial Ownership in Tax Law and Tax Treaties

Beneficial Ownership in Tax Law and Tax Treaties
Author: Pablo A Hernández González-Barreda
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 429
Release: 2020-05-28
Genre: Law
ISBN: 150992308X

This book explores the concept of beneficial ownership in equity law, the domestic tax laws of the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, as well as its varied and increasing uses in international tax law. By analysing the evolution of beneficiary rights in equity and the use of beneficial ownership wording in tax law, the book draws a roadmap for dealing with beneficial ownership in both national and international tax law. This approach highlights those common misconceptions that can be avoided by understanding the origins of the concept and its engagement with equity, as well as the differences with tax law. However, the book does not limit itself to dealing with theoretical discussion, but also offers an instructive and detailed practical case study. Offering both academic commentary and a practitioner focus, the book will be of the utmost interest to scholars and practitioners from common and civil law countries dealing with tax and estate law, particularly given beneficial ownership's increasing relevance.

Taxation of Intercompany Dividends Under Tax Treaties and EU Law

Taxation of Intercompany Dividends Under Tax Treaties and EU Law
Author: Guglielmo Maisto
Publisher: IBFD
Total Pages: 1093
Release: 2012
Genre: Corporations
ISBN: 9087221398

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.

International Tax Policy and Double Tax Treaties

International Tax Policy and Double Tax Treaties
Author: Kevin Holmes
Publisher: IBFD
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2007
Genre: Double taxation
ISBN: 9087220235

Explains the concepts that underlie international tax law and double tax treaties and provides an insight into how international tax policy, law and practice operate to ultimately impose tax on international business and investment.

International Tax Planning and Prevention of Abuse

International Tax Planning and Prevention of Abuse
Author: Luc De Broe
Publisher: IBFD
Total Pages: 1146
Release: 2008
Genre: Corporations
ISBN: 9087220359

This study considers how tax authorities attempt to strike down international tax avoidance structures, in particular those involving the use of conduit and base companies set up by third-country residents for purposes of "treaty shopping" and "EC-Directive shopping". The book focuses on the interaction between provisions and judicially developed doctrines of domestic tax law preventing international tax avoidance on the one hand, and norms of international law, in particular tax treaties and rules of Community law, on the other. It also considers treaty-based anti-avoidance measures such as the "beneficial ownership" requirement and "limitation on benefits" provisions. This part of the study compares and analyses the case law of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Switzerland in International Tax Law

Switzerland in International Tax Law
Author: Xavier Oberson
Publisher: IBFD
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2011
Genre: Double taxation
ISBN: 9087220987

"Switzerland has recently witnessed an unprecedented level of tax treaty negotiations. Although this is a direct result of Switzerland's revised position regarding exchange of information, a number of contracting states have taken this opportunity to modify tax treaty benefits and/or clarify certain aspects of tax treaty interpretation and application. These are considered extensively in this edition. As Switzerland has steadily aligned itself with international principles of international taxation, the self-imposed anti-abuse rules for the application of tax treaties have become less relevant. Nevertheless, Swiss courts have become more creative in determining where there is and where there is not treaty abuse. As a result, the 1962 Abuse Decree is making way for a more complex basket of anti-abuse rules and regulations"--Foreword (page vii).