Financial innovation allows companies and other entities that wish to raise capital to choose from a myriad of possible instruments that can be tailored to meet the specific business needs of the issuer and investor. However, such instruments put increasing pressure on a question that is fundamental to the tax and financial systems of a country – the distinction between debt and equity. Focusing on hybrid financial instruments (HFIs) – which lie somewhere along the debt-equity continuum, but where exactly depends on the terms of the instrument as well as on applicable laws – this book analyses their treatment under both domestic law and tax treaties. Key jurisdictions, including the EU, some of its Member States, and the United States, are covered. Advocating for a broader scope of application of HFIs as part of the financing of companies in Europe alongside traditional sources of debt and equity financing, the book addresses such issues and topics as the following: • problems associated with the debt-equity distinction in international tax law; • cross-border tax arbitrage and linking rules; • drivers behind the use and design of HFIs; • tax law impact of perpetual and super maturity debt instruments, profit participating loans, convertible bonds, mandatory convertible bonds, contingent convertibles, preference shares and warrant loans on HFIs; • financial accounting treatment; • administrative guidance; • influence of the TFEU on Member States’ approaches to classification of HFIs; • interpretation of the Parent-Subsidiary Directive by the European Court of Justice; • applicability of the OECD Model Tax Convention; and • implications of the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. Throughout this book, the analysis draws upon preparatory works, case law, and legal theory in English, German, and the Scandinavian languages. In conclusion, the author considers tax policy issues, and identifies and outlines possible high-level solutions. Actual or potential users of HFIs will greatly appreciate the clarity and insight offered here into the capacity and tax implications of HFIs. The book not only examines whether existing legislation is sufficient to handle the issues raised by international HFIs, but also provides an in-depth analysis of the interaction between corporate financing and tax law in the light of today’s financial innovation. Corporate executives and their counsel will find it indispensable in the international taxation landscape that is currently coming into view, and academics and policymakers will hugely augment their understanding of a complex and constantly changing area of tax law.

Hybrid Financial Instruments, Double Non-taxation and Linking Rules Félix Daniel Martínez Laguna Hybrid financial instruments (HFIs) are widespread ordinary financial instruments that combine debt and equity features in their terms and design and may lead to double non-taxation across borders. This important book provides a deeply informed and critical analysis and guide to the “linking rules” developed to combat double non-taxation stemming from HFIs within the framework of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the anti-avoidance initiatives of the European Union (EU). These complex rules have now become essential in international taxation. The book deals incisively with crucial theoretical and practical issues as the following: Economic and legal reasons for financing business activity through debt instruments, equity instruments and/or HFIs. Qualification of financial instruments from different perspectives such as economics, corporate finance, corporate law, financial accounting law, regulatory law and tax law and their interrelation. The concept of double non-taxation as a mere outcome of parallel exercises of sovereignty by different states and the role it plays within the international debate. The concepts of tax planning, tax avoidance and the misleading concept of aggressive tax planning within a tax competition international scenario and their relation with HFIs. Comprehensive policy, legal and technical detail and explanation of the linking rules proposed by the OECD (i.e., BEPS Project Action 2) and the EU (e.g., Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive). The (in)compatibility of linking rules with existing tax treaty rules and EU primary law. The author refers throughout to relevant model convention provisions, EU case law and a vast number of references of official documentation and literature. With its detailed attention to the concept and legal nature of HFIs and double non-taxation, the critical and comprehensive analysis of the linking rules developed by the OECD and the EU, this provocative book allows to reconsider the legality of these linking rules and will quickly become a much-used problem-solving resource for policymakers, tax practitioners, tax authorities and tax academics. This book allows to rethink whether linking rules relate to a solution or create actual legal issues.

Despite the enormous diversity and complexity of financial instruments, the current taxation of hybrid financial instruments and the remuneration derived therefrom are characterized by a neat division into dividend-generating equity and interest-generating debt as well as by a coexistence of source- and residence-based taxation. This book provides a comparative analysis of the classification of hybrid financial instruments in the national tax rules currently applied by Australia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands as well as in the relevant tax treaties and EU Directives. Moreover, based on selected hybrid financial instruments, mismatches in these tax classifications, which lead to tax planning opportunities and risks and thus are in conflict with the single tax principle, are identified. To address these issues, the author provides reform options that are in line with the dichotomous debt-equity framework, as he/she suggests the coordination of either tax classifications or tax treatments.

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.

This book is a detailed and comprehensive study on the taxation of cross-border dividend distributions. It first considers cross-border dividend taxation in the context of EU law. In this field, issues such as the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice, the hindrance to the internal market caused by double taxation of dividends and the compatibility of dividend withholding taxes are dealt with. Next, the book discusses the taxation of dividends under tax treaties, in particular focusing on the definition of "dividends" in the OECD Model Convention and the meaning of the concept of "beneficial owner" as applied to dividends. The application of domestic and agreement-based anti-abuse rules to dividends is thoroughly analysed. Finally, the relevance of the non-discrimination provision enshrined in Art. 24 of the OECD Model Convention to dividends as well as procedural issues relating to treaty relief and possible ways of improvement are taken into consideration. Individual country surveys provide an in-depth analysis of the above issues from a national viewpoint in selected European and non-European jurisdictions.

Klaus Vogel on Double Taxation Conventions is regarded as the international gold standard on the law of tax treaties. This article-by-article commentary has been completely revised and updated to give you a full and current account of double tax conventions (DTCs). DTCs form the backbone of international taxation, but they raise many interpretational questions. This market leading work will provide you with the answers. Based on the OECD/G20 Multilateral Instrument, the OECD MC and Commentary published in 2017 and the most recent amendments to the UN MC, the book also includes relevant case law and scholarly literature upto and including 2020. Previous editions of the Vogel have been routinely relied on by courts around the world including Australia, Canada, Germany, India, South Africa, the Netherlands and United Kingdom. What’s new in this edition? There have been many important developments in this area since the last edition in 2015. The authors discuss these developments and the effect they will have upon practitioners working in this area. They also provide a wealth of new and revised case law, along with the DTCs of emerging countries. You’ll find: Reports about major features in the DTC practice of many leading jurisdictions, such as: the DTC practice of Austria, Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK and the US Sections on divergent country practice covering their national models and networks of bilateral DTCs Thorough analysis of the OECD and UN model, as well as the implementation of these models in practice Amendments of bilateral DTCs, textual or in substance, on the basis of the 2017 Anti-BEPS Multilateral Instrument Coverage of a full range of the latest tax treaties around the world, including important treaties between OECD and BRICS countries This new Fifth Edition of Klaus Vogel on Double Taxation Conventions continues to reflect the unchallenged role of the OECD. The OECD MC, accompanied by the official Commentary, guidelines, reports and other recommendations, has sustained its position as the most important legal instrument in the area of DTCs. On occasion, the UN MC and Commentary diverge from the OECD texts. When this happens, the authors deal with the specifics of the UN MC in separate annotations and analyses, explaining and making sure you understand the differences. How this will help you: All the information you need to confidently advise on issues such as the taxation of income, taxation of capital and the elimination of double taxation Know that your advice to clients is based on the most up-to-date and respected information available, from an outstanding team of editors and authors The editors, Professors Ekkehart Reimer and Alexander Rust, have worked with the late Professor Vogel as well as an international team of top experts to completely update and enhance the content. The writing team comprises: Editors: Prof. Dr Ekkehart Reimer, Heidelberg University and Prof. Dr Alexander Rust, WU Vienna. Authors: Johannes Becker, Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin; Alexander Blank, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; Katharina Blank, Federal Ministry of Finance, Berlin; Michael Blank, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Prof. Dr Luc De Broe, Catholic University of Leuven; Laga; Prof. Dr Axel Cordewener, Catholic University of Leuven and Flick Gocke Schaumburg ; Prof. Dr Ana Paula Dourado, University of Lisbon; Daniela Endres-Reich, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; Prof. Dr Werner Haslehner, University of Luxembourg; Prof. Dr Roland Ismer, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; Prof. Dr Eric C. C. M. Kemmeren , Tilburg University; Prof. Dr Georg Kofler, WU Vienna; Sophia Piotrowski, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg; Prof. Dr Ekkehart Reimer, Heidelberg University; Prof. Dr Alexander Rust, WU Vienna; Annika Streicher, WU Vienna; Prof. Dr. Matthias Valta, Duesseldorf University; Jens Wittendorff, Ernst & Young, Copenhagen and University of Aarhus; Kamilla Zembala, Heidelberg University

The EU’s Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD), implemented in January 2019, confronts Member States with complex challenges, particularly via the introduction of an interest limitation rule. This timely book, the first in-depth analysis of the features and implications of the directive, provides insightful and practical discussions by experts from around Europe on the crucial interactions of the ATAD with other existing anti-tax avoidance measures, the European financial sector and the fundamental freedoms. Specific issues and topics covered include the following: relation with the OECD’s Base Erosion and Profit Sharing project (BEPS) and the EU’s Common Corporate Tax Base initiative; technical subjects relating to corporate taxation and debt funding; problems caused by the diametrically opposite tax treatment of debt and equity within a group of companies; exclusion clauses for interest expenses; and interplay between interest limitation rules and anti-hybrid rules. A comparative analysis of implementation issues in four leading Member States—Germany, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands—as well as a global general survey with regard to interest limitation rules allow readers to assess the particular complexities associated to the implementation of the ATAD. This matchless commentary by leading European tax law academics and practitioners on an important and much-debated item of EU legislation gives practitioners, enterprises and tax authorities an early opportunity to understand the practical effects of the directive in the various Member States.