Based on seminar held on 26 May 2009 at the Erasmus University Amsterdam. -- page xvii.

Tax treaty law and EU tax law in connection with hybrid entities Hybrid entities have traditionally been used as an avenue for international tax planning, and extending benefits under tax treaties to such entities has been a source of controversy for many years now. Although the OECD Partnership Report provided solid policy footing on this issue, there was still no common legal basis that countries could rely on for such positions. The increasing focus of countries towards the curbing of tax avoidance and abuse involving hybrid mismatch arrangements culminated in a specific action plan in the BEPS Project being dedicated to the design of domestic rules and the development of treaty provisions that would neutralize the tax effects of such arrangements. This volume provides an in-depth analysis of various aspects of this topic. It is divided into two parts – the first dealing exclusively with tax treaty issues arising in connection with hybrid entities and the second dealing with EU tax law issues surrounding hybrid entities. The former part comprises chapters analysing how tax treaties have historically dealt with this issue with a focus on domestic court jurisprudence, the positions in the OECD and the UN Model Conventions, the developments that have come about owing to the BEPS Project, and the impact of several existing measures, regimes, and vehicles on these tax treaty provisions. The latter part comprises chapters on how hybrid entities are dealt with under primary EU law, under various secondary law directives including the newly enacted Anti-Tax Avoidance Directives, and an analysis of policy solutions offered in this direction.

The topics of double non-taxation and hybrid entities have acquired particular importance in a context where transformations in the tax world have led to international commitments materialised in the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. In what is the first systematic in-depth analysis of the OECD BEPS Action Plan 2 and hybrid entities, this timely book provides a critical review of the approach adopted by the OECD and proposes a deeply informed alternative method to deal with the problem of hybrid entity mismatches. The author analyses the interaction between the double non-taxation outcome and the use of hybrid entities in an approach not strictly linked to any specific tax jurisdiction. To this end, the analysis includes case studies and examples from a range of jurisdictions emphasising the international tax context, also including the application of tax treaties. Among the seminal matters covered in this edition are the following: foundations of the concepts of double non-taxation and hybrid entities; extensive analysis based on the rules of characterisation of foreign entities for tax purposes in the United States, Spain, Denmark, and Germany, as well as on the Poland/United States and Canada/United States tax treaties; in-depth analysis of the implications of Article 1(2) OECD Model Tax Convention and Article 3(1) Multilateral Instrument (MLI), especially considering the position of developing (source) countries; detailed analysis of the OECD BEPS Action 2 and its recommendations (linking rules), including its implementation in the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD); and elaborated alternative method to deal with hybrid entity mismatches (reactive coordination rule), which is informed by the tax policy aims of simplicity, coherence, and administrability. Detailed comparisons between the author’s proposal and other existing rules elucidate common points and deviations. If merely for its unparalleled clarification of the issues, this book will prove of immeasurable value to practitioners, tax authorities, policymakers and academics concerned with international tax law. Beyond that, as an authoritative guide that promises to reorient the discussion to what really matters in the debate regarding hybrid entity mismatches, this analysis elaborates solutions applicable to a generality of cases worldwide and, therefore, hugely promotes the urgent quest for alternative views.

The topics of double non-taxation and hybrid entities have acquired a particular importance in a context where transformations within the tax world seem to be leading to an international commitment most materially manifested in the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. In what is the first systematic in-depth critique of the BEPS Action Plan 2 with regard to hybrid entities, this timely book provides a critical review of the OECD’s approach and proposes a deeply informed alternative method based on the tax policy aims of simplicity, coherence and ease of administration. The author analyses the interaction between the double non-taxation outcome and the use of hybrid entities in an approach not strictly linked to any specific tax jurisdiction. To this end, the analysis includes case studies and examples from a range of jurisdictions emphasizing the international tax context, including the application of tax treaties. Among the seminal matters covered are the following: – foundations of the concepts of double non-taxation and hybrid entities, absent of the specific limitations of domestic tax legislation; – extensive analysis based on the rules of characterization of foreign entities for tax purposes in the United States, Spain, Denmark and Germany, as well as on the Poland/United States and Canada/United States tax treaties; – detailed analysis on the implications of Article 1(2) OECD Model Tax Convention and Article 3(1) Multilateral Instrument, especially having in mind the position of developing (source) countries; and – EU tax law as part of the international context, including an extensive analysis on the EU Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive (ATAD) I and ATAD II. Detailed comparisons between the author’s proposal and other existing rules elucidate common points and deviations. If merely for its unparalleled clarification of the issues, this book will prove of immeasurable value to practitioners, tax authorities, policymakers and academics concerned with international tax law. Beyond that, as an authoritative guide that promises to reorient the discussion to what really matters in the debate regarding double non-taxation and hybrid entities, this analysis elaborates solutions applicable to a generality of cases worldwide, and thus hugely promotes the urgent quest for alternative solutions.

This study discusses the impact of the EC Treaty on the recognition of entities in the internal market. The EC Treaty envisages the internal market as an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured in accordance with the provisions of the EC Treaty. One of the key questions discussed in this study is how this rationale reflects the relation between tax laws of Member States and, specifically, the relation between the application of autonomous classification methods by Member States and the free allocation of economic resources in the internal market. This study also contains an examination of how the different approaches to hybrid entities in tax treaties interfere with EC law. This part of the study contains an analysis of how the interrelation between domestic (tax) laws and the approach to classification conflicts under existing bilateral tax treaties relates to EC law.

This book deals with all the EC law norms that are relevant from the perspective of direct taxes. It explains how these norms are, and should be, interpreted and how they affect national tax laws and the tax treatment in EU Member States. It begins by giving a comprehensive overview of the basic principles and concepts of EC tax law and all relevant articles of the EC Treaty, analysing them in the light of direct tax case law. A discussion follows covering all relevant EC directives and recommendations and other soft law material on direct taxes. Reference is made to all relevant judgments of the EC Court on direct taxes. The book includes a chapter on the tax treatment of the different EU entity forms and the future of corporate taxation, with a separate chapter dedicated to the EC law issues related to transfer pricing and to the EC law norms on administrative assistance in tax matters.