bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
‘Place of Effective Management’: Finding Guidelines in Case Law
Authors: du Plessis Izelle 
Published: February 2022

The concept ‘place of effective management’ (POEM) is used in many States around the world. Yet the meaning of this concept remains somewhat ambiguous. It is important to establish where an entity is effectively managed, since many States still use The POEM as one of the criteria to determine residence in terms of their domestic legislation. Furthermore, The POEM is still relevant in several double taxation treaties (DTTs), even after the changes to the OECD Model Tax Convention and the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. This article critically analyses significant judgments from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada and Australia. From these judgments, a set of guidelines to determine an entity’s POEM is compiled. These guidelines may assist both taxpayers and tax administrators in the application of the concept of the POEM to a new set of facts.
Place of effective management, Central management and control, Residence, Taxation. Company, Board of directors, Trust, Trustees
Renewable Electricity and Tax Expenditures: Lessons from Two Countries
Authors: Milne Janet E , Villar Marta 
Published: February 2022

Both the United States (US) and Spain have offered tax expenditures to support use of wind and solar power to generate electricity at the utility scale. These tax expenditures provide an opportunity to consider design issues, the relationship between tax expenditures and other non-fiscal policy instruments and the influence of legal frameworks. The article explores tax expenditures that have been in effect in the US and Spain. In the US, the federal government since 1992 has provided an income tax credit for the production of electricity from renewable sources, and more recently the alternative of an investment tax credit. In Spain, since the 1990s there has been an important debate on the best way to promote renewable energies; different tax incentives, subsidies, and regulated prices have been used in one way or another over time. Drawing on these two case studies, the comparative analysis highlights lessons that emerge about the role of taxation as a regulatory instrument and its consistency with other policies in shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. These lessons can transcend national boundaries and contribute to an understanding of tax expenditures more generally.
renewable energy, wind, solar, tax expenditures, incentives, feed-in tariffs, market-based instruments, environmental protection, environmental taxation
How Countervailing Measures Could Be Used to Limit Strategic Tax Competition. An International Overview
Authors: Garbarino Carlo 
Published: February 2022

The paper focuses on possible policy responses that imply forms of multilateral governance to address tax competition that go beyond the current bilateralism of tax treaties. After clarifications on the nature of countervailing measures in the area of direct taxation, the paper develops a discussion of the impacts of tax competition on the global and local level and an inquiry about the shift from value creation to global taxation of multinational enterprises (MNEs), minimum standards for the taxation of MNEs in light of the fact that these entities fragment their tax liabilities across different territorial jurisdictions while their profits are truly planetary. The article then extends to issues of institutional design and develops an analysis of potential avenues for promoting multilateral policies aiming at the establishment of defensive coalitions of Governments again the impacts of tax competition.
global tax governance, tax competition, countervailing measures, OECD Pillar 1 and 2, BEPS, aggressive tax strategies
Regulatory Framework for Tax Incentives in Developing Countries After BEPS Action 5
Authors: Mosquera Valderrama Irma Johanna 
Published: February 2022

The aim of this article is to assess the regulatory framework of Base Erosion Profit Shifting Project (BEPS) Action 5 in order to evaluate tax incentives in the form of preferential tax regimes that provide benefits to geographically mobile business income in developing countries. To conduct this assessment, this article first addresses the use of preferential tax regimes considering BEPS Action 5. Thereafter, and taking into account the concerns expressed by international organizations, regional tax organizations and scholars, the author contends that the evaluation of tax incentives in light of BEPS Action 5 results in additional burden for developing countries. Countries will need to assess their tax incentives considering the factors provided by the 1998 OECD report and BEPS Action 5. Since there are no terms of reference for the application of these factors, the country will have to assess its own tax incentives, which brings increased uncertainty and compliance burden for developing countries. In order to provide some guidance in this evaluation, the author provides a list of the factors used by the 1998 OECD report and BEPS Action 5 and their application to tax incentives. Subsequently, this article will assess the legitimacy of the application of BEPS Action 5 to developing countries and will demonstrate that its assessment framework is ambiguous and prevents developing countries from enacting legitimate tax incentives. Finally, this article will conclude and provide some recommendations for further research.
BEPS, tax incentives, harmful tax, fair tax competition, developing countries
Lessons from New Zealand for EU VAT Grouping and Tax Avoidance Issues
Authors: Egholm Elgaard Karina Kim 
Published: February 2022

This article analyses both the goods and services tax (GST) grouping scheme and GST anti-avoidance measures in New Zealand in order to determine whether the NZ GST system can provide legal alternatives or solutions which could eliminate or minimize problems found specifically within the area of value-added tax (VAT) grouping and tax avoidance in the EU. NZ GST grouping is noteworthy, as it appears to have been infected only to an insignificant level by the risk of tax avoidance. Thus, the article reflects on why NZ GST grouping seems to function so well, and what lessons can be learned from it in respect of EU VAT grouping and the prevention of tax avoidance.
VAT, GST, groups, grouping, group of companies, avoidance, abuse, EU, New Zealand
The Emergence of Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes on Request as an International Tax Custom
Authors: Pereira Roberto Codorniz Leite 
Published: February 2022

In this article, the author contends that transparency and exchange of information on request became an international tax custom. The content of this new international tax custom is the exchange of information on request with regard to all tax matters for the administration and enforcement of domestic tax law without regard to a domestic tax interest requirement or bank secrecy for tax purposes with extensive safeguards to protect confidentiality of the information exchanged (the so called EOI Standard). The emergence of the EOI Standard as an international tax custom is a clear sign of change of the existing global tax governance. There is a realization that international organizations and global forums with expertise in tax matters (especially the OECD, UN, and Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes) are actually performing a fundamental role. They influence states’ practices and opinio juris with soft law instruments and peer review procedures that ultimately influence the development of hard law in tax matters, a sphere traditionally conceived as being exclusive to states. The consequences of the emergence of new international tax customs are the submission of states to the international obligation to exchange information on request even in the absence of treaty provisions and the applicability of a state responsibility doctrine in the event of non-compliance. Therefore, if states intend to not lose their almost exclusive role in global tax governance, the role of the existing international organizations and other institutional players must be restrained. The disadvantage, however, is the inability to achieve cooperation in certain strategic matters in tackling double non-taxation arising from aggressive tax planning arrangements.
Global tax governance, international tax cooperation, transparency and exchange of information on request, international custom, customary international law, tax sovereignty.
Blockchain Technology and the Allocation of Taxing Rights to Payments Related to Initial Coin Offerings
Authors: Kjærsgaard Louise Fjord 
Published: February 2022

The author explores one of the most debated technologies of recent times – blockchain technology – from an international tax perspective. The focus is on its main principles in its current stage and how the technology may create value in certain use cases. Being one of the most common use cases benefitting from the main principles of blockchain technology, it is analysed how capital raised through initial coin offerings and the investors’ return on their invested capital should be classified according to the OECD Model Tax Convention 2017. More specifically, emphasis is placed on classification of capital raised through the issuing of utility tokens, debt tokens, and equity tokens as well as the classification of return on investments in such tokens. Among other things, it is concluded: 1) that capital raised through the issuing of utility tokens in some initial coin offerings may be subject to a shared taxing right; 2) and that Article 21 of the OECD Model Tax Convention 2017 may, to a greater extent, be applicable with regards to the classification of the investors’ return on investment in tokens compared to return on more ‘traditional’ hybrid financial instruments. Against this background, the fundamental principles of legal certainty and neutrality are discussed. It is also recommended that policymakers provide guidance on the classification of capital raised through initial coin offerings and the investors’ return on their invested capital.
OECD Model Tax Convention, tax treaty classification, international tax law, tax policy, blockchain technology, initial coin offering, hybrid financial instrument, financial innovation.
Country Note: Procedures of the Polish Tax Authorities and the VAT Gap: Evidence from Administrative Court Files
Authors: Gajewski Dominik J. , Jonski Kamil 
Published: February 2022

The issues of tax compliance and efficiency of tax administrations have gained widespread attention among scholars and policymakers in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. One of the prominent examples of tax compliance crises in Europe was the Polish VAT gap that was widening over the 2011–2014 period. Although post-crisis recessions in various countries can explain a lot of cross-country variation in tax compliance, the experience of Poland seems unique. Despite uninterrupted economic growth, the size of Poland’s VAT gap approached the Greek levels. In other words, the Polish VAT-compliance crisis could not be downplayed as a simple consequence of the downturn; instead, performance of the tax administration seems to be the key factor. Unfortunately, secrecy surrounding tax administrations’ activities substantially limits the scope of scientific inquiry into their effectiveness. To overcome this problem, this article introduces a new source of information about their activities – a fulltext database of administrative court verdicts (concerning challenged decisions of the tax administration). A collected sample of 68.2 thousand VAT-related judgments provided an ‘opportunity sample’ containing information on the procedures of tax authorities, in particular the time elapsed from the underlying economic activity to the issuance of the challenged decision. Results indicate that such a lag averages almost five years. Given the evidence presented in this article, the incentive structure faced by the Polish tax authorities requires further rigorous scrutiny and – perhaps – a reform.
VAT gap, tax compliance, tax enforcement, public governance, Polish tax system.
Beneficial Ownership, Tax Abuse and Legal Pluralism: An Analysis in Light of the CJEU’s Judgment Concerning the Danish Cases on Interest
Authors: De Pietro Carla 
Published: February 2022

The complex interconnections characterizing the relationship between the international tax treaty law system and the EU tax law system increasingly require attention. Accordingly, within the framework of this article, the judgment of the EU Court of Justice concerning the Danish cases on interest has provided the concrete opportunity to evaluate the significant effects that a lack of coordination between these two systems may have.
In fact, due to the broad economic concept of beneficial owner applied by the EU Court of Justice vis-à-vis the narrower OECD concept, there is no complete coordination between EU tax law and international tax treaty law. Even if, under the OECD approach, further conduit arrangements are covered under Article 7(1) of the MLI (or the anti-conduit mechanism), the different scope of the OECD and the EU concepts of abuse is an obstacle to complete coordination.
Very significantly, this lack of coordination may concretely create situations of conflict between the international and the EU obligations held by the same EU Member State. The significant practical relevance of these conflicts, which cannot be solved on the basis of a common conflict rule, requires solutions in terms of global tax governance. Accordingly, the author has developed her theory on the basis of a legal pluralist approach.
Beneficial owner, Danish cases on interest, legal pluralism, global tax governance, tax abuse, coordination, tax treaties, EU law, conflict rules, dialectical approach, PPT rule.
The Market Distortion Provisions of Articles 116-117 TFEU: An Alternative Route to Qualified Majority Voting in Tax Matters?
Authors: Nouwen Martijn F. 
Published: February 2022

The European Commission is currently exploring how to make full use of the market distortion provisions of Article 116-117 TFEU to end prolonged veto deadlocks in tax matters and to fully deliver on the EU’s fair tax agenda. This article sets out why the market distortion rules do not seem appropriate for any far-reaching EU tax integration initiatives. However, they could complement the diplomatic EU Code of Conduct Group’s work, and the Commission’s use of the State aid rules, in addressing national market distorting tax measures and tax ruling practices of Member States.
Market distortion, state aid, harmful tax competition.
Compliance of Automatic Tax Fraud Detection Systems with the Right to Privacy Standards Based on the Polish Experience of the STIR System
Authors: Rojszczak Marcin 
Published: February 2022

According to the EC estimates presented in November 2018, the so-called VAT gap amounted to approximately EUR 150 billion with organized crime groups largely responsible for its creation.
Therefore, it is not surprising that states, while protecting their economic interests, are implementing new measures aimed at detecting and preventing tax crime. Poland is also pursuing this type of activity, and a number of innovative measures in the field of tax law have been introduced over the last few years. One such solution is the automatic system of analysing transaction data from financial institutions (System Teleinformatyczny Izby Rozliczeniowej, STIR). The way this system works – combining the collection of enormous sets of personal data including sensitive information with confidential analytics and composing reports for tax authorities and law enforcement purposes – must raise doubts as to its compliance with human rights standards. In terms of its operation, STIR resembles electronic surveillance systems in other EU Member States; the difference is that, instead of capturing telecommunications data, it aggregates bulk amounts of information on financial transactions.
The purpose of this article is to discuss the regulations that establish the legal framework of STIR and to present recommendations on how to ensure its compliance with the privacy and data protection model functioning in the EU. Special attention will be paid to assessing the proportionality and quality of legal safeguards implemented to limit the risk of abuse of power according to standards established in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Conclusions drawn from this analysis are not only important from the perspective of the Polish legislature but are also relevant to other countries and EU institutions implementing systems similar to STIR that are interested in developing cooperation between Member States in the area of combatting tax fraud.
Right to privacy, tax fraud, transaction network analysis, automated decision-making, VAT gap.
Taxation of Outer Space Income Resulting from Air Transport or Employment Activities: Is the OECD Model Convention an Appropriate Tool?
Authors: Zeyen Gaëtan 
Published: February 2022

Space related activities (resulting for example from space tourism or exploration and exploitation of outer space resources) will likely generate in near future increasing revenue. Currently, the issues of the ‘taxability’ or taxation of such revenue in an international context have not been questioned or examined. It is rather assumed that the current version of the OECD Model Convention constitutes a proper legal tool to apprehend and resolve space related tax issues. The OECD Model Convention, however, relies on some fundamental principles, such as the concepts of residence (requiring a physical presence) or state’ sovereignty, which seem prima facie not very well adapted to resolve space related tax issues. The purpose of the present contribution is therefore to check and verify this simple assumption, at the light of two specific issues: international transport issues and international employment issues.
International taxation, OECD Model Convention, taxation of outer space income, (income from) air transport activities, Art.8 OECD Model Convention, (income from) employment activities.
Tax In History: The 30 Year Anniversary of the Disintegration of the Eastern Bloc: Tax Reform Process in Hungary
Authors: Erdos Gabriella 
Published: February 2022

The article outlines the development of the Hungarian tax system from the early days of the market economy to the current times. Hungary was the first among the Central and Eastern European countries to introduce profits taxation, privatized industries, and attracted foreign capital. Presently, it has the lowest corporate tax rate within the EU, and it experiments with turnover-based sectoral taxes. Although the major principles have not changed since the mid-1990s, the country experienced six major tax reforms and over 200 amendments to income tax laws.
Tax reform, Hungary, tax rates, EU accession, tax system, corporate income tax, personal income tax.
Tax In History: Polish Tax System In Transition To Democracy And Market Economy
Authors: Sek Malgorzata 
Published: February 2022

This article briefly discusses tax developments connected with the transformation of Poland from a communist (socialist) state with a centrally planned economy to a democratic state with a market economy. The key feature of Poland’s pretransition tax system was a strong differentiation between taxpayers according to their belonging to the dominant socialized (state or cooperative) sector of the economy or the severely reduced nonsocialized (private) sector to the detriment of the latter.
The tax system was based primarily on the flow of tax money between state-owned enterprises and the state budget. Tax rules were, to a large extent, included in governmental instead of parliamentary legislative instruments.
Although the fall of communism in Poland is associated with the first partially free parliamentary elections in 1989, democratic elements had been gradually reintroduced into the Polish tax system from the beginning of the 1980s: the nullum tributum sine lege principle in 1980, judicial control over tax administration in 1981, and the principle of equality in taxation of entrepreneurs regardless of their ownership status (socialized vs. non-socialized economy) in 1988. However, new taxes suitable for the changed political, social, and economic reality were introduced in a few steps between 1989 and 1993. The system evolved in the following years with the most significant post-transition changes being connected with the preparations for accession to the EU
Post-communist tax system, post-socialist tax system, Poland, Polish tax system, Polish tax transformation, tax transition, tax reform, fall of communism, transition from communism.
The Prohibition of Abuse of Rights After the ECJ Danish Cases Robert Danon, Daniel Gutmann, Margriet Lukkien, Guglielmo Maisto,
Authors: Maisto Guglielmo , Gutmann Daniel , Jiménez Adolfo Martín , Danon Robert , Malek Benjamin , Lukkien Margriet 
Published: February 2022

Since they were delivered in February 2019 the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) in the well-known ‘Danish cases’ have already been referred to by several courts of EU Member States to tackle alleged cases of directive shopping. In light of the increased convergence between EU and current OECD standards (notably the Principal Purpose Test), the findings of the ECJ will likely also have an impact in tax treaty practice and with respect to corporate structures involving dividends, interest or royalties. Against this background, this article discusses the findings of the ECJ in light of EU law but also contrasts these findings with tax treaty law and practice, including the rules of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT). Following an analysis of the prohibition of abuse of rights under EU and tax treaty law, the authors test the indicators of abuse in concrete cases by distinguishing inter alia between wholly artificial (sham) arrangements, on the one hand and ‘real’ business structures driven by tax motives, on the other hand. Finally, the impact of the ECJ findings on the interpretation of beneficial ownership is considered by taking into account recent tax treaty case law involving the 2014 OECD Commentary.
Abuse of rights, directive shopping, tax treaty abuse, principal purpose test (PPT), general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR), artificial arrangement, conduit company, beneficial ownership
Tax in History: The First Tax Treaties: In Search of Origins
Authors: Savitskiy Andrey 
Published: February 2022

The author seeks to discover sources and predecessors of the first international tax treaties that laid the foundation for the treaties on avoidance of double taxation. In doing so, he explores Russian and foreign bibliography as well as international and national legislation. The article, for the first time, contends that the S.-Petersburg commercial treaty between Russia and France of 31 December 1786 and the Convention between Russia and Saxony of 20 August 1800 may be regarded as the first tax treaties aimed at avoidance of international double direct taxation.
Additionally, the prerequisite for concluding the convention was the situation of international double taxation caused by imposing the duty on the transfer of inherited estates by foreign heirs abroad. The historical method and contextual analysis were additionally employed to reconstruct the genetic development of avoidance of international double taxation. The work posits that the predecessors of the OECD and the UN Models of the twentieth century were much older and of better quality than it might be commonly assumed.