The phenomenal internationalization of taxation occurring in recent years has called for a second edition of this classic handbook. Even though a quarter of a century has passed, the farsighted first edition has remained in constant use worldwide and has even grown in importance. Now it has been thoroughly updated by the author, who has brought his piercing insight to bear on the current world of international tax law while retaining the book’s practical format, structure of primary materials, and detailed commentary. Emphasizing the need for an international consciousness in relation to issues of taxation, Professor Qureshi focuses extensively on the problems associated with fiscal jurisdiction, international constraints in domestic taxation, double taxation, and tax evasion and avoidance. In particular the following are covered: treaty law with specific reference to taxation; fiscal aspects of international monetary, investment, and trade law; enforcement of international tax claims; exchange of information; assistance in recovery of tax claims; mechanisms for the resolution of international tax disputes; base erosion and profit shifting in the framework of public international law; and contribution of international institutions to fiscal capacity development. Assimilating in one source the basic materials in public international law germane to taxation – including cases, texts of international agreements, discourse in secondary sources, and incisive commentary, all updated to the present – this new edition of the most authoritative and important book in its field will be of immeasurable value to tax practitioners worldwide, national taxation authorities, international institutions, and the international tax community more generally.

In this fresh, objective, and non-argumentative volume in the Elements of International Law series, Peter Hongler combines a comprehensive overview of the technical content of the international tax law regime with an assessment of its crucial relationship to wider international law. Beginning with an assessment of legal principles and foundations, the book considers key general principles, treaty based regimes, and regional integration in tax matters. In the second half of the work Hongler places international tax law in the context of its wider relationships with human rights law, and trade and investment law. He concludes by considering major legal successes and failures and what might be done to address these.

The Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI) is the most forceful multilateral initiative to coordinate tax regimes on a worldwide basis since the dawn of modern income taxation over a century ago. This book evaluates two radically opposed viewpoints on the convention—a momentous and revolutionary paradigm shift versus a mechanism that merely continues an ongoing flow of limited policy coordination—with detailed investigations that bring to life the hopes and the realities of the current era of multilateral tax cooperation. Bringing together authors from national jurisdictions across the globe to scrutinize the MLI and its likely future ramifications, the book provides in-depth commentary and analysis in the following sequence: first, a comprehensive discussion of the design and goals of the MLI as a treaty and an institutional framework; second, an overview of the structure of the convention and its take-up across the globe to date; and third, the substantive implementation of the MLI with a wide range of country reports. Practice areas covered include tax law, international law, and international relations. The legal workings and implications of the MLI might still seem mysterious to those whose daily work is impacted by it, and there is as yet little jurisprudence regarding its legal nature or ultimate effect on the bilateral treaties coming within its scope. For these reasons, this pathbreaking book will be warmly welcomed by in-house counsel and law firms advising cross-border investors and firms; nongovernmental organizations involved in policy analysis and issue advocacy; researchers working on technical areas of international tax law; and lawyers interested in international policymaking, including the creation and diffusion of consensus-based fiscal and related regulatory norms across jurisdictions of differing development levels.

The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations has for over 50 years been central to diplomacy and applied to all forms of relations among sovereign States. Participation is almost universal. The rules giving special protection to ambassadors are the oldest established in international law and the Convention is respected almost everywhere. But understanding it as a living instrument requires knowledge of its background in customary international law, of the negotiating history which clarifies many of its terms and the subsequent practice of states and decisions of national courts which have resolved other ambiguities. Diplomatic Law provides this in-depth Commentary. The book is an essential guide to changing methods of modern diplomacy and shows how challenges to its regime of special protection for embassies and diplomats have been met and resolved. It is used by ministries of foreign affairs and cited by domestic courts world-wide. The book analyzes the reasons for the widespread observance of the Convention rules and why in the special case of communications - where there is flagrant violation of their special status - these reasons do not apply. It describes how abuse has been controlled and how the immunities in the Convention have survived onslaught by those claiming that they should give way to conflicting entitlements to access to justice and the desire to punish violators of human rights. It describes how the duty of diplomats not to interfere in the internal affairs of the host State is being narrowed in the face of the communal international responsibility to monitor and uphold human rights.

This publication considers the interpretation of tax treaties primarily from the standpoint of public international law. The principal purpose of this study is to analyse and discuss the rules and principles of international law relevant to the interpretation of treaties in general, and their application to tax treaties in particular. The rules of international law enshrined in articles 31, 32 and 33 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties are therefore central to this study. Where appropriate, reference is made to the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice, and to the law and procedure of other international court and tribunals. Considers also the extent to which the relevant rules and principles of international law are binding on domestic court and taxpayers. The importance of international law for the purpose of the interpretation of tax treaties is illustrated by a number of leading cases decided by the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad).

This Second Edition provides an updated and succinct, yet highly informative overview of the key issues surrounding taxation and international law from Reuven Avi-Yonah, a leading authority on international tax. This small but powerful book surveys the nuances of the varying taxation systems, offering expert insight into the scope, reach and nature of international tax regimes, as well as providing an excellent platform for understanding how the principles of jurisdiction apply to tax and the connected tools that are used by countries in imposing taxes. It includes new material on BEPS, the EU Anti Tax Avoidance Package, and the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The People’s Republic of China’s tax policies and international obligations are as multifaceted and dynamic as they are complex, developing closely with the nation’s rise to the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Today, after decades of reform and the entry into the World Trade Organization, China has developed regulatory systems that enable it to provide stable administration, including a tax structure. China’s main tax reform can be attributed to the enactment of the Enterprise Income Tax Law, which came into effect on January 1, 2008. Chinese tax regulations include direct taxes, indirect taxes, other taxes, and custom duties and from a collection point of view, China’s tax administration adopts a very devolved system, with revenue collected and shared between different levels of government in accordance with contracts between the different levels of the tax administration system. With respect to international treaties, China has established a network of bilateral tax treaties and regional free trade agreements. This publication describes in detail China’s complex tax system and policies, as well as major bilateral treaties in which China has entered into using country-by-country analysis. Lorenzo Riccardi is Tax Advisor and Certified Public Accountant specialized in international taxation. He is based in Shanghai, where he focuses on business and tax law, assisting foreign investments in East Asia. He is an auditor and an advisor for several corporate groups and he is partner and Head of Tax of the consulting firm GWA, specializing in emerging markets.