This handbook is a concise guide for all those who aim at obtaining a basic knowledge of European tax law. Designed for students, it should also be useful for experienced international tax specialists with little knowledge of European law, European law specialists who are reluctant to approach the technicalities of direct taxation and non-Europeans who deal with Europe for business or academic reasons and need to understand the foundations of European tax law. This book should also help academics without a legal background to approach the technical issues raised by European Union tax law. This edition contains selected relevant information available as of 30 June 2022. It retains all of the features and tools contained in the previous editions (including the final charts, which our readers very much appreciate). In this edition we have also included a list of relevant documents and a selection of reference textbooks on European tax law in five languages, which we found of potential interest to our readers.

Basic knowledge of European Tax Law This concise handbook has become a traditional instrument for gaining basic knowledge of European tax law with emphasis on direct taxes. It is directed at students, experienced international tax specialists with little knowledge of European law, European law specialists and non-Europeans who deal with Europe for business or academic reasons and need to understand the foundations of European tax law. Moreover, this book can be useful to academics without a legal background in approaching technical issues raised by European Union tax law, as well as give inspiration to the most experienced European direct tax law experts. The eighth edition adds new updates on the most essential changes and new case law of the CJEU in the field of European direct taxation. Furthermore, due to its particular importance, the EU Global Minimum Tax Directive is now covered in a separate chapter.

This handbook is a concise guide for those who are interested in obtaining a basic knowledge of European tax law. Designed for students, it should be useful as well for experienced international tax specialists with little knowledge of European law, for European law specialists who are reluctant to approach the technicalities of direct taxation, and for non-Europeans who deal with Europe for business or academic reasons and need to understand the foundations of European tax law. The book will also be useful to academics without a legal background, in order to approach the technical issues raised by European Union tax law. This third edition has been updated and upgraded. For the purpose of enhancing the handbook's content and its flexible use, the book contains (flow) charts, a table of all the ECJ judgments quoted, indicating the marginal number and chapter in which they have been analyzed, and an analytical index. Considering the complexity of European direct tax law and the relevant ECJ case law, such features will also make this handbook an indispensable tool for the most experienced European direct tax law experts.

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.

The principle of territoriality and the fundamental freedoms The tension between the fundamental freedoms and the sovereignty of the Member States is omnipresent in the CJEU ́s case law on direct taxation. A significant number of cases concerned one of the core principles in national tax laws: the principle of territoriality. Although this principle is continuously mentioned in cases concerning the compatibility of direct tax measures with the fundamental freedoms, the case law seems to provoke more questions than answers. This book provides guidance on the meaning of territoriality in the CJEU ́s case law on direct taxation as well as on the role which this principle plays in the compatibility of domestic direct tax measures with the fundamental freedoms. During a critical and dogmatically oriented journey through the CJEU ́s case law, the reader can enjoy a comprehensive analysis, containing references to more than 300 cases. Without a doubt, this timeless reflection of the tension between the principle of territoriality and the fundamental freedoms is not only interesting from a dogmatic perspective, but also from a tax policy one.

An in-depth analysis of various aspects of multilateral cooperation in tax law Tax evasion and aggressive tax planning causing base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) has been a widely discussed topic among academics and tax policy makers over the past decades. Increasing globalization and digitalization have contributed to the intensification of this issue in recent years. At the same time, states continue to largely insist on their sovereignty in the area of tax law. However, due to their cross-border nature, issues related to BEPS are shared problems among the states and can typically not be solved by a single nation. Therefore, multilateral cooperation represents an option to build a bridge between the states’ demand for sovereignty and the problems caused by BEPS. In this regard, the OECD, the UN, and the EU play an important role in introducing international tax standards in an attempt to effectively address tax evasion and aggressive tax planning in many ways. The interaction and cooperation between different international, supranational (EU), and regional organizations is an ongoing process. In this context, the topic "Multilateral Cooperation in Tax Law" was selected as the general topic for the master’s theses of the part-time 2021-23 class of the postgraduate LL.M. programme in International Tax Law at WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business). This volume aims to develop academic insights, provide practical guidance, and enable an in-depth analysis of various aspects of this topic. The book is divided into four parts. The first part deals with a general overview of the understanding of multilateral cooperation, the background that led to the need for multilateral cooperation and the different stakeholders that play a relevant role in it. While the chapters included in the second part focus on the most important developments on an international level (OECD and UN), the chapters encompassed in the third part analyse the multilateral cooperation initiatives of the EU. Finally, the chapters included in part four deal with selected issues related to multilateral cooperation in tax law, including mutual assistance and exchange of information, dispute resolution mechanisms, and measures in digitalized businesses.

This book deals with all the EC law norms that are relevant from the perspective of direct taxes. It explains how these norms are, and should be, interpreted and how they affect national tax laws and the tax treatment in EU Member States. It begins by giving a comprehensive overview of the basic principles and concepts of EC tax law and all relevant articles of the EC Treaty, analysing them in the light of direct tax case law. A discussion follows covering all relevant EC directives and recommendations and other soft law material on direct taxes. Reference is made to all relevant judgments of the EC Court on direct taxes. The book includes a chapter on the tax treatment of the different EU entity forms and the future of corporate taxation, with a separate chapter dedicated to the EC law issues related to transfer pricing and to the EC law norms on administrative assistance in tax matters.

Within the European Union, direct taxation is an area which often provokes controversy due to tensions between the tax sovereignty of the individual Member States and the desire for an integrated internal market. This book offers a critical review of the legislative and case-law developments in this area at the EU level, and reviews the European Commission’s proposed solutions in light of their concerns regarding the proper functioning of the EU’s internal market. Luca Cerioni set out a series of benchmarks determined from the objectives expressed by the European Commission, including: the elimination of double taxation and double non-taxation; the simplification of cross-border tax compliance; the reduction of abusive forum-shopping practices and general aggressive tax planning strategies; legal certainty for all businesses and individuals carrying on activities and receiving income in more than one EU Member State. Cerioni uses these benchmarks to ask which Directives and/or rulings have left legal uncertainty, and which have ended up creating or increasing the scope for aggressive tax planning. The book puts forward a comprehensive solution for a new optimal regime relating to tax residence, which would contribute to the EU project to the mutual benefit of Member States and taxpayers. As a thorough and critical discussion of EU tax rules in force, and of the European Court’s case law in direct taxation, this book will be of great use to academic researchers and students of EU law, tax practitioners, and policy-makers at the EU and national level.