The book deals with tax planning with holding companies located in Europe, Asia of the Caribbean. It analyses the problem of repatriating U.S. profits from Europe, going far beyond the routing of income via different companies. Instead, the approach includes an analysis of the interdependencies between international tax competition, holding company regimes, and tax planning concepts in order to establish a basis for tax planning measures regardless of the fast changing legal environment for holding companies in the different countries.

Major changes in EU tax law demand an analysis of not just the current state of the field, but also forthcoming EU-level policy initiatives and their likely implications for taxpayers, regulators, and national legislatures alike. This book, the first in-depth commentary and analysis of such developments, offers exactly that. Twenty EU tax and policy experts examine the impact of EU Treaty provisions and recent ECJ case law on EU tax law, and provide well-informed assessments of current and anticipated EU tax policy initiatives and their potential impacts. Taxpayers, their advisors, national tax administrations, and national legislators will find relevant chapters to aid their understanding of, and to allow them to proactively address, EU tax law issues, such as: – non-discrimination; – state aid rules; – fundamental freedoms; – discretionary power of national tax authorities; – tax competition in the internal market; – cross-border exchange of tax information; – corporate tax harmonization; – EU and Member States’ external relations; and – the limits of judicial authority in tax policy. As an authoritative,detailed guide to recent and future developments in EU tax law, with highly informed insights into their practical effect, this book will be a welcome addition to the arsenal available to tax practitioners dealing with European tax matters, as well as interested policymakers and academics.

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.

In today’s environment of largely globalizing national economies, international economic integration does not stop at the frontiers of the European Union. Many non-EU-based enterprises are carrying on business in the European Union through the operation of branches or subsidiaries established in EU Member States, and a large number of EU-based enterprises maintain a diversified range of investments outside the Union. Accordingly, in both inward and outward investment relationships, ‘economic openness’ is key nowadays. This legal relationship between EU Member States and the EU as a whole vis-à-vis the rest of the world is the starting point of this book. The author analyses the ‘freedom of investment’ concept between EU Member States and non-EU States under EU law, and specifically its effect on company taxation regimes, from the perspective of multinational enterprises. Focusing on the impact of the Treaty freedoms and international integration agreements on relations with non-EU Member States, this work is the first to specifically address the all-important issue: Under which circumstances can investment-related rights deriving from EU law be invoked by companies established in non-EU states? The analysis identifies the impact of the EU Treaty freedoms on six basic corporate income tax themes that are of particular interest for multinational enterprises: limitation on the deduction of interest expenses; withholding taxes on dividend, interest, and royalty payments; relief for double taxation of income received from foreign investments; CFC legislation; non-deduction of foreign losses from the domestic taxable base; and company taxation upon the transnational transfer of business assets.

The recent relaunch of the European Commission’s Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) project promises a sorely needed leap forward in the harmonization of the rules by which companies calculate their taxable profits. In particular, the initiative hopes to remedy the severe barrier to cross-border business caused by the ‘the accounting Tower of Babel’ by which companies’ tax bases are determined under national law. This thorough analysis and commentary covers the influence of accounting rules on tax, considering both generally accepted standards – international accounting standards (IAS) and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) – and EU Directive 2013/34. Three introductory chapters usher in detailed comparative overviews of the effect of these rules on taxation in nine EU Member States as well as in two other major EU trading partners, the United States and Brazil. Fully explaining the remarkable recent improvement in the comparability of accounts that represent favourable preconditions for creating a single market for financial services within the EU, this book covers every relevant detail, including the following and much more: – criterion of evaluation of alternative fixed assets based on revaluated amounts; – criterion based on fair value; – provisions applicable to income statements, notes, reports, and financial statements; – rules applicable to the publication of documents; – transparency in payments to governments; – dispositions on exemptions; – hierarchy of general provisions and principles; – balance sheet and profit and loss account; – simplifications for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); – system of creditors’ protection; and – protection of investors’ interests. This book is a peerless explication of the taxation choices granted to Member States under IAS/IFRS and EU Directive 2013/34 and how they will be affected by ongoing Commission initiatives. Because relevant, timely, reliable, and comparable information assumes a leading role in protecting the interests of investors, creditors, and other stakeholders, as well as in ensuring that all operators act on a level playing field under equal conditions, the analysis presented here is of immeasurable value to lawyers, business persons, and officials concerned with taxation, not only in Europe but anywhere within the reach of international trade.

Freedom of movement is a key principle of the European Union (EU) resulting in the right of every EU citizen to move and reside freely within the EU. Many EU citizens work in other Member States than their Member State of origin. Direct taxes are not as such covered in the treaties and therefore have much smaller bases for harmonization at EU level than indirect taxes. As a result, decisions of European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the clash between the EU principle of free movement and Member States’ direct tax rules have a significant effect on national direct tax systems. This book focuses on the relation between free movement rights of EU citizens and the legal autonomy of Member States in the area of direct taxation and will immediately engage tax practitioners and scholars. The author asks (and answers) the question: Has the willingness at EU level to make EU citizenship a key driver behind the integration process come at the expense of national direct tax autonomy? The book’s incomparably thorough analysis of the distinctive evolution, mainly via ECJ case law, of the relation between the EU principle of free movement of persons and Member States’ direct tax rules includes in-depth discussion of the following elements and more: – the concept of EU citizenship in the EU’s constitutional and institutional development; – how the ECJ has interpreted the concept of free movement with regard to economically inactive persons; – how the notion of EU citizenship has widened the ECJ’s view on treaty access; – how the ECJ has addressed the clash between free movement of persons and direct taxation in the EU’s constitutional context; and – numerous tax policy initiatives with regard to EU citizens before and after the Treaty of Lisbon This is the first book to investigate in such detail how the ECJ has tried to reconcile specific national direct tax rules with the general EU principle of free movement of persons from the perspective of EU citizenship. This book explains that the ECJ is in the process of reconceptualizing the market freedoms relating to the free movement of persons, also in the area of direct taxation, as part of a broader EU citizenship right for all economically active EU citizens to pursue an economic activity in a cross-border context; a right beyond the aim of realization of the internal market. As an extremely important analysis of the influence of EU law on the direct tax autonomy of Member States, this book is sure to be itself of great influence in the practice and study of taxation in the EU.

Determining the burden of proof in tax law cases is usually what contributes most to the case’s outcome. Legal presumptions – those inferences that are laid down in the law rather than being the result of the court’s reasoning – play a critical role in such determinations. This very useful book uncovers the details of such presumptions which are shared among European tax law systems, thus revealing a remarkably clear path through the course of a tax law case in any Member State in the context of EU law. Referring to both legal theory and relevant case law, the author assesses whether and to what extent national legal presumptions may be deemed to be consistent with EU law, and when this is not the case, under which conditions they may be reconciled. The analysis unfolds along such avenues as the following: – the meaning of the concept of legal presumption as developed by legal theory and authoritative academic literature; – special considerations regarding presumptions in customs law, VAT, and direct taxation (harmonized and unharmonized); – how tax authorities use presumptions to simplify the assessment of tax and tackle tax avoidance or evasion, particularly in cross-border situations; – justifications asserted by the Member States in relation to restrictions on fundamental freedoms; and – standards of compatibility for national legal presumptions with EU law resulting from CJEU case law. With reference to national experience, using Italy and Belgium as specific examples, the analysis culminates in an elaboration of criteria for legal presumptions capable of meeting the test of compatibility with EU law. As an in-depth investigation of possible inconsistencies and conditions for the coexistence of EU and Member State tax law, this book will be welcomed by both taxation authority officials and taxpayer counsel. The understanding it imparts on the actual impact of EU law on the recourse to legal presumptions by national tax legislatures and the protection of European taxpayers is unsurpassed.

The hurdles emerging from the parallel exercise of Member States’ tax sovereignty have been examined by the CJEU and intensely discussed by scholars. By uncovering a paradox in the CJEU’s case law, this groundbreaking book provides a constructive alternative to the deadlock created by the CJEU when ruling that international juridical double taxation, although constituting an obstacle to free movement, is not contrary to EU law. The book – the first in-depth treatment of this perspective – enables taxpayers facing international juridical double taxation to understand how their ability to pay is protected under EU law and the limitations that protection faces. Every aspect of the matter is rigorously examined, including the following: important differences between the traditional notion of double taxation and the current definition under Council Directive 2017/1852; legal means and methods designed to eliminate international juridical double taxation and the policies underlying them; freedoms of movement as prohibitions that limit the exercise of Member States’ taxing powers; consideration of expenses related to economic activity and personal and family circumstances; and in-depth discussion of taxation of income derived from source versus residence Member State. Throughout the book, the author refers to the case law of the CJEU on both international juridical double taxation and taxpayers’ ability to pay, as well as the relevant academic literature, allowing the reader to understand the current state of EU law on these matters and their relation. The author’s remarkable venture into this challenging field, with a deeply informed construction of instrumental categories and critical review of their content, culminates with a viable reformulation of the serious and growing problem of international juridical double taxation. The book will be welcomed by taxation professionals in practice, policymakers, and academia.

In October 2016, the European Commission relaunched its plan to harmonize national income tax systems via the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), perhaps the most ambitious reform of EU tax law ever attempted. This timely book offers an early analysis of this important proposal and its implications, covering issues such as the project’s scope and main elements, international considerations, the relationship with OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) initiative, consolidation, and anti-abuse rules. With carefully selected papers first presented at a January 2017 conference hosted by the Amsterdam Centre for Tax Law, this volume focuses on such topics and issues as the following: – ways in which the proposed CCCTB is designed to preserve the competence of Member States to set their own tax rates; – reduction of the administrative burden for multinational companies; – incentives for research and development; – automatic cross-border relief within the EU; – detailed analysis of the proposal’s formula apportionment regime; – proposed new controlled foreign company (CFC) rules; and – interest limitation rule. Because of the commitment of many Member States to keep their corporate income tax systems competitive on a stand-alone basis, the proposed CCCTB is enormously controversial. This book provides authoritative insights into problems likely to arise and discusses the prospects of how the proposal is likely to be implemented. Thus, this book proves to be of immeasurable value to taxation policymakers, practitioners, and academics.

Everywhere,new tax rules are under development to engage with the ever-increasing complexity and sophistication of aggressive tax planning and to reverse the tax base erosion it leads to. The most prominent initiative in this context is the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project of the OECD. Although double non-taxation is among the main issues the BEPS project intends to address, this book shows that this phenomenon has not yet been fully understood. Focusing on the fundamental freedoms and the State aid rules of the EU, this book thoroughly explains the nature of double non-taxation from an EU law perspective, its relation to double taxation, and the impact of EU law on these phenomena. Among the issues dealt with in the course of the analysis are the following: – locating the gaps and inconsistencies among domestic tax systems exploited by taxpayers; – hybrid mismatch arrangements as a prime example of double non-taxation; – political efforts undertaken within the EU in order to address double taxation and double non-taxation; – double non-taxation in the European VAT system; – the convergence of the fundamental freedoms and the State aid rules; – the ECJ’s dilemma with regard to juridical double taxation; – the deviating approach with regard to economic double taxation; – the potential impact of the ECJ’s case law on the EU law compatibility of double non-taxation. The tax jurisprudence of the ECJ is referred to and comprehensively analysed throughout this whole book. A final chapter provides an outlook on possible developments in the future. By providing the first in-depth analysis of EU law’s impact on double non-taxation – and the double taxation relief standards with which it is intimately related – this book takes a giant step towards greater legal certainty in this challenging area of tax law. It will quickly take its place as a major practical analysis which benefits tax authorities, scholars, and tax practitioners across Europe and even beyond.