This book provides an insight into business structuring and the related tax considerations. It covers all important aspects of fixed place of business and dependent agency types of PE, as well as the exceptions for independent agents, permitted ancillary activities, and parent-subsidiary relationships. It provides commentary on applicable rules and discusses regulations and case law from multiple jurisdictions. This new edition has entirely new chapters on e-commerce, supply chain and contract manufacturing structures and service PEs; updates of model treaty changes and PE rulings globally; and features implications of new developments in mineral extraction, real estate leasing and construction management. The book identifies key PE rulings not only in OECD countries, but also in the emerging BRIC countries.

Permanent establishment is the key concept for allocating taxation rights in respect of business income, and the question ‘Is there a permanent establishment?’ is a tax treaty issue that advisers, government officials, and courts perennially confront. Based on a ‘fixed link to the ground’, the idea has become progressively more difficult to apply until, at this stage, re-evaluation has become a political necessity. If a permanent establishment may exist in the context of e-commerce, the concept of a geographical presence must be redefined. However, the question remains: Is e-commerce a sufficient reason for challenging the well-established permanent establishment nexus? Drawing on case law, administrative practice, and business decisions in numerous jurisdictions, the author discusses the permanent establishment criteria under conditions of e-commerce and the service economy. He shows that the OECD Model Convention and its commentaries already offer the basis for the evolution of the analysis of the concept, and that the preservation of permanent establishment protects and maintains the level playing field between capital importing and capital exporting economies. He examines in depth such elements as the following: ;the prevalence of commercial coherence over geographic coherence; the role of value-added tax; services permanent establishment; relevant definitions of ‘activity’ and ‘personnel’; multiple permanent establishments; supervision activity and sub-contracting; the differences between civil law and common law concepts of representation; particular treatment of the insurance sector; the ‘force of attraction’ concept; and specific exceptions (e.g., transportation, artists and sportsmen, rental income, agricultural activities, pipelines). Taking into account important distinctions between two model conventions (OECD and UN), as well as pertinent EU directives and the impact of EU law, the author proposes minor amendments to the OECD Model that adapt it to economic reality and current trends in jurisprudence and that can be implemented immediately. An appendix includes Article 5 and its commentaries as they have evolved since 1963, with the successive addenda and deletions. The author’s 20-plus years of experience as a tax lawyer lend the presentation a thoroughly practical aspect. The work addresses in more detail than any other publication the topic of profit allocation to a permanent establishment in the e-commerce world, an issue which is evolving rapidly in the current economic environment. Tax advisors, lawyers, and interested academics and policymakers will benefit from the book’s clear analysis of the conditions under which a permanent establishment not only should be preserved, but also how it is likely to be adapted in the future.

"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).

The OECD’s guidance on combatting tax avoidance strategies associated with Base Erosion and Profit Sharing (BEPS) methods is complex and accompanied by a wealth of literature. This book is the first to provide a concise and accessible overview of counter BEPS measures in the OECD Model and Commentary, allowing readers to gain a practical understanding of how the measures can impact the taxation of bilateral investments protected by tax treaties.

This is the tenth edition of the condensed version of the "OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital". It contains the full text of the "Model Tax Convention on Income and Capital" as it read on 21 November 2017, but without the historical notes and the background reports included...

A new edition of the preeminent work on the permanent establishment (PE) is a major event in tax law scholarship. Taking into account changes in judicial and administrative practice as well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) and the United Nation’s (UN’s) work in the three decades since the first edition, the present study brings the analysis up to date with the current internationally accepted interpretation of PE. The analysis is based on more than 720 cases from more than 20 countries, in addition to the OECD and UN model treaties and more than 630 books, articles, and official documents. The increased significance of the digital economy has rendered the traditional concept of PE inadequate for the allocation of taxing jurisdiction over the modern, mobile or digital international business. The author’s in-depth analysis explains the legal elements of the PE principle with attention to their continuing benefit and their shortcomings: criteria defining a PE- place of business, location, right of use, duration, business connection, business activity, ordinary course of business; evidence of a right of use to a place of business; business activities included in the PE concept of the tax treaties; identification of projects offshore and onshore; UN model treaty deviations from the OECD agency clause; distinction between jurisdictions with significant natural resources and countries possessing the capital, technology and know-how necessary to explore and exploit these resources; and how policies in each country may erode the PE concept. The book provides many synopses of court decisions and administrative rulings upon which the analysis is based. In addition to cases previously published in law reports and other publications, a number of unpublished decisions are included. A key word index makes it easy to find what is needed in any particular matter. The PE principle, in one version or another, is used in several thousand tax treaties in force today. This updated comprehensive study reveals the obligations imposed through the use of PE in tax treaties and will continue to be of immeasurable value to tax practitioners and scholars worldwide. In addition, the discussion of whether the notion of PE is an appropriate criterion for taxing jurisdiction in international fiscal law today provides authoritative and insightful food for thought.