Search

The issue of corporate tax avoidance has been subject to extensive developments in the European Union over the course of recent years, both in terms of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and at the level of secondary legislation with the adoption of instruments such as the Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive. This book analyses whether these developments are in line with the constitutional foundations of EU law, especially with the primary-law standard of protection of the internal market against abusive practices. This book considers the autonomous concept of abuse under primary EU law as based predominantly on the artificiality test rather than the business purpose test. This is especially true in areas in which domestic laws largely diverge and compete with one another, such as in corporate taxation. Thus, a mere finding of low or no taxation, as well as the tax motives behind an arrangement, generally should not suffice for concluding that a certain structure is abusive. This is because, in the absence of comprehensive harmonization, the primary tool for achieving market integration within the European Union is the endorsement of regulatory competition among Member States. Private parties have, in turn, the right to rely on this competition in their business allocation decisions. Taking the business purpose (no tax reasons) approach would lead to the fragmentation of the internal market, as Member States would be free to discriminate against cross-border arrangements set up for regulatory reasons. Secondary EU law cannot put the above principles into question, as a deviation from them would constitute a manifestly inappropriate measure in light of the aim to improve the establishment and functioning of the internal market. To the extent that such secondary law measures restrict the rights derived from primary law, these harmonization measures must be in line with the standard of abuse under primary law. Secondary law cannot restrict the scope of primary law. This book analyses the provisions of the ATAD and points out the existing deviations from the object and purpose of the internal market, suggesting either a conforming interpretation or validity review.

In Tax, Inequality, and Human Rights, experts in human rights law and in tax law debate the linkages between the two fields and highlight how each can help to tackle rapidly growing inequality in the economic, social, and political realms. Against a backdrop of systemic corporate tax avoidance, widespread use of tax havens, persistent pressures to embrace austerity policies, and growing gaps between the rich and poor, this book encourages readers to understand fiscal policy as human rights policy, and thus as having profound consequences for the well-being of citizens around the world. Prominent scholars and practitioners examine how the foundational principles of tax law and human rights law intersect and diverge; discuss the cross-border nature and human rights impacts of abusive practices like tax avoidance and evasion; question the reluctance of states to bring transparency and accountability to tax policies and practices; highlight the responsibility of private sector actors for shaping and misshaping tax laws; and critically evaluate domestic tax rules through the lens of equality and nondiscrimination. The contributing authors also explore how international human rights obligations should influence the framework for both domestic and international tax reforms. They address what human rights law requires of state tax policies and how tax laws and loopholes affect the enjoyment of human rights by people outside a state's borders. Because tax and human rights both turn on the relationship between the individual and the state, neo-liberalism's erosion of the social contract threatens to undermine them both.

La obra que analiza a profundidad las disposiciones del Convenio Modelo de la OCDE. Estudio de los conceptos Establecimiento Permanente, Rentas Inmobiliarias y Ganancias de Capital así como de los Métodos para evitar la doble Imposición y el Procedimiento de Acuerdo Mutuo previsto en el Convenio Modelo.

Analysis of notion, roots und measures of treaty abuse The OECD initiative on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting has put the issue of treaty abuse and the means to counter it on top of the global political agenda. Preventing treaty abuse is therefore currently one of the most debated topics in international tax law. Diverging national legal traditions in combatting abuse both under domestic and tax treaty law have led to a globally diversified legal framework in this respect and make the OECD´s agenda to harmonize these attempts even more challenging. The aim of this book is to analyze the notion of treaty abuse, its historical roots and the measures to counter it. The book´s topics cover a wide range of both policy and legal issues. The contributions´ main focus lies on analyzing the proposals put forward by the OECD in BEPS action items 6 and 7. In addition, this book analyzes the lessons which can be learnt from the US tax treaty policy and elaborates on the effects the intensified fight against treaty abuse will have from a Non-OECD member state perspective. Also EU law is taken into account and the question raised which impact the fundamental freedoms might have on the development of new anti-avoidance rules. Finally the relation between domestic and treaty based anti-avoidance is analyzed in great detail, identifying the methodical problems of ensuring a sound and abuse safe legal framework. With this book, the authors and editors hope to contribute to the discussion on selected issues of preventing treaty abuse and the challenges they present to policy makers, judges, tax administrations and tax advisers.

Die vollumfängliche Korrektur von rechtswidrigen Steuerbescheiden kann nur innerhalb der vorgesehenen Rechtsbehelfsfristen verlangt werden. Lässt der Steuerpflichtige diese Fristen verstreichen, so hat er sich mit einer im Vergleich zur gesetzlichen Steuerschuld zu hohen Steuerfestsetzung abzufinden. Die Versuchung für den Steuerpflichtigen ist groß, sich eine nachträgliche Korrektur über unrichtige Tatsachen zu erschleichen, indem entweder der Zugang des rechtswidrigen Steuerbescheides geleugnet oder Gründe für eine Wiedereinsetzung in den vorigen Stand erfunden werden. Der Verfasser geht der ursprünglich vom OLG Hamm (Beschluss vom 14.10.2008 – 4 Ss 345/08) verneinten Frage nach, ob eine bloß steuerverfahrensrechtlich ungerechtfertigte Korrektur einer bereits bestandskräftigen Steuerfestsetzung eine Steuerhinterziehung (§ 370 AO) darstellen kann. Er kommt insbesondere unter Zuhilfenahme von anerkannten Grundsätzen der Bestandskraft von Steuerbescheiden zu dem Ergebnis, dass »Fristerschleichungen« den Taterfolg der Erlangung von ungerechtfertigten Steuervorteilen erfüllen.

We are well aware of the rise of the 1% as the rapid growth of economic inequality has put the majority of the world's wealth in the pockets of fewer and fewer. One much-discussed solution to this imbalance is to significantly increase the rate at which we tax the wealthy. But with an enormous amount of the world's wealth hidden in tax havens—in countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands—this wealth cannot be fully accounted for and taxed fairly. No one, from economists to bankers to politicians, has been able to quantify exactly how much of the world's assets are currently hidden—until now. Gabriel Zucman is the first economist to offer reliable insight into the actual extent of the world's money held in tax havens. And it's staggering. In The Hidden Wealth of Nations, Zucman offers an inventive and sophisticated approach to quantifying how big the problem is, how tax havens work and are organized, and how we can begin to approach a solution. His research reveals that tax havens are a quickly growing danger to the world economy. In the past five years, the amount of wealth in tax havens has increased over 25%—there has never been as much money held offshore as there is today. This hidden wealth accounts for at least $7.6 trillion, equivalent to 8% of the global financial assets of households. Fighting the notion that any attempts to vanquish tax havens are futile, since some countries will always offer more advantageous tax rates than others, as well the counter-argument that since the financial crisis tax havens have disappeared, Zucman shows how both sides are actually very wrong. In The Hidden Wealth of Nations he offers an ambitious agenda for reform, focused on ways in which countries can change the incentives of tax havens. Only by first understanding the enormity of the secret wealth can we begin to estimate the kind of actions that would force tax havens to give up their practices. Zucman's work has quickly become the gold standard for quantifying the amount of the world's assets held in havens. In this concise book, he lays out in approachable language how the international banking system works and the dangerous extent to which the large-scale evasion of taxes is undermining the global market as a whole. If we are to find a way to solve the problem of increasing inequality, The Hidden Wealth of Nations is essential reading.

Tax evasion by individuals with unreported offshore financial accounts was estimated by one IRS commissioner to be several tens of billions of dollars, but no precise figure exists. By law, U.S. citizens are required to report worldwide income from all sources, including income from offshore accounts. While taxpayers can hold offshore accounts for a number of legitimate reasons, some use them to illegally reduce their tax liabilities, often by not reporting the income earned on these accounts. The IRS has operated four offshore programs since 2003 that offered incentives for taxpayers to disclose their offshore accounts and pay delinquent taxes, interest and penalties. This book examines the nature of the noncompliance of the 2009 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) participants; the extent the IRS used the 2009 ODVP to prevent noncompliance; and assesses the IRS's efforts to detect taxpayers trying to circumvent taxes, interests, and penalties that would otherwise be owed.

This volume provides a fascinating look at the anti-tax avoidance strategies employed by more than fifteen countries in eastern and western Europe, Canada, the Pacific Rim, Asia, Africa, and the United States. It surveys the similarities and differences in anti-avoidance regimes and contains detailed chapters for each country surveying the moral and legal dimensions of the problem. The proliferation of tax avoidance schemes in recent years signals the global dimensions of a problem presenting a serious challenge to the effective administration of tax laws. Tax avoidance involves unacceptable manipulation of the law to obtain a tax advantage. These transactions support wasteful behavior in which corporations enter into elaborate, circuitous arrangements solely to minimize tax liability. It frustrates the ability of governments to collect sufficient revenue to provide essential public goods and services. Avoidance of duly enacted provisions (or manipulation to secure tax benefits unintended by the legislature) poses a threat to the effective operation of a free society for the benefit of a small group of members who seek the privilege of shifting their tax burden onto others merely to compete in the world of commerce. In a world in which world treasuries struggle for the resources to battle terrorist threats and to secure a decent standard of living for constituents tax avoidance can bring economies close to the edge of sustainability. As tax avoidance is one of the top concerns of most nations, the importance of this work cannot be overstated.

If you are looking to understand how tax havens and offshore financial centers work, how they are governed (or not!), and what kind of economic and political impacts they have, then this book is for you! This recent text by well-recognized experts in the field is a most welcome addition to the literatures.... It fills an important void, since there was not until now a general but nevertheless detailed reference text on tax havens... it should be mandatory for courses in IPE, international finance, and international business.— Patrick Leblond ― Political Science QuarterlyFrom the Cayman Islands and the Isle of Man to the Principality of Liechtenstein and the state of Delaware, tax havens offer lower tax rates, less stringent regulations and enforcement, and promises of strict secrecy to individuals and corporations alike. In recent years government regulators, hoping to remedy economic crisis by diverting capital from hidden channels back into taxable view, have undertaken sustained and serious efforts to force tax havens into compliance. In Tax Havens, Ronen Palan, Richard Murphy, and Christian Chavagneux provide an up-to-date evaluation of the role and function of tax havens in the global financial system—their history, inner workings, impact, extent, and enforcement. They make clear that while, individually, tax havens may appear insignificant, together they have a major impact on the global economy. Holding up to $13 trillion of personal wealth—the equivalent of the annual U.S. Gross National Product—and serving as the legal home of two million corporate entities and half of all international lending banks, tax havens also skew the distribution of globalization's costs and benefits to the detriment of developing economies.The first comprehensive account of these entities, this book challenges much of the conventional wisdom about tax havens. The authors reveal that, rather than operating at the margins of the world economy, tax havens are integral to it. More than simple conduits for tax avoidance and evasion, tax havens actually belong to the broad world of finance, to the business of managing the monetary resources of individuals, organizations, and countries. They have become among the most powerful instruments of globalization, one of the principal causes of global financial instability, and one of the large political issues of our times.

This report documents the findings of a process mapping exercise aimed at identifying bottlenecks in the prosecution of tax evasion cases. While the exercise was conducted in 2007 and the report presents a snapshot of issues at that time, many of the key challenges identified remain relevant today, while the strengthening of revenue collection has become even more of a critical priority in light of the impact of the global financial crisis.